RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light
by Zivon96
Summary: Beacon Academy has been a place of light and hope for time immemorial, a place for the training of those who protect the world and all it's people. But the glorious light of the past has begun to dim, as those heroes of yesterday fade from memory. As the glow fades, heroes continue to rise, but will they be enough to save the diminishing light of the past?
1. The Artist

**Beacon's Fading Light**

**The Artist**

The mountain path was covered in snow as a black cloaked figure carrying a black staff with a large ball on one end trudged her way through the white. The howling wind tore at her hood, blowing away the warm breaths she let out every so often as she used her staff to make her way through the snow. Ahead, off the path, she spied a forest through the snow. The figure turned, walking straight for the trees.

It seemed it was not to be, however, for as the wind lessened, and the snow lightened she could see ahead enough to see ten men in long dark coats exit the trees, some carrying guns, but others blades. "What's the hurry?" asked the lead fellow, a tall man carrying a katana. "You seem lost, perhaps my men and I could help. For a small fee, of course." He said, smiling.

The cloaked figure merely shook her head and continued walking, only for the men to form up and block her path.

"I don't think I made myself clear," said the leader. "give us everything you have, and we'll let you pass. Refuse and, well, things will get ugly."

The girl ignored him and continued walking, only for him to grab her by the arm that held her staff.

Bad move. Grabbing him with her free hand, the girl flipped him over her back and threw him face first into the snow. Before she could keep moving, he brought his head up and barked a command to his men: "Get her!"

They obliged, but those three who charged with blades didn't get far before she flung her cloak off and threw it at them. Removing the cloak, the girl revealed herself as a medium height oriental girl with green eyes, black hair and a single streak of green, matching that of her eyes. She wore a maroon outfit with a green leather chestplate and boots.

As her cloak hit the three men, distracting them from their advance, she spun her staff around and hit the ball end on the ground, causing a clawed hand to emerge from the end, a clear crystal on each knuckle, as well as one in the palm. She shot forward, smacking all three men with the clawed end, knocking them to the ground.

The other six men all raised their pistols and opened fire, but the girl didn't move. Her eyes glowed blue as she spun her staff all around her, bullets being blocked by the metal pole as she walked forward towards her assaulters.

As the men realized their guns were of no use, each one drew a melee weapon and charged, the first man trying to strike with an axe, but was smacked aside by the claw right before the ball end hit his friend who tried to strike from the other side with a club.

The girl then leapt back from another strike from a sword and pointed the claw end at her attacker. The crystals glowed red, and the fingers all pointed at him before a blast of red energy shot out and knocked him back.

She launched two more blasts towards the next four men, three dodging, but one being knocked back by the blast. The other two men charged her, the first with a hatchet which she caught with the claw, pulled it out of his grasp, and threw at his friend, slowing his charge as he dodged and gave her time to strike the now unarmed man with the ball end before turning to hit him with a claw to the face, causing him to drop his machete next to her feet.

Turning to the last man, she pointed the claw at him, but after seeing what she did to his crew, he turned tail. Smiling, the girl hit the staff on the ground and collapsed the claw, but before she could turn around, she heard a gun being cocked. She had forgotten the leader.

"Well, that was impressive." He said "Why don't you put that stick down, and drop the rest of your supplies, and maybe then I won't shoot you."

Looking down at her feet, she saw the discarded machete, and her eyes glowed blue for just a second. She smacked it with the ball end of her staff, seemingly in frustration, knocking it into a branch of the tree above the man's head.

"Careful girly," he said "One more stunt like that, and I won't hesitate to shoot-" he didn't have time to finish his sentence as the branch above him, cut by the machete, fell on his head, followed by all the snow above it.

The girl smiled, walking over to pick up her cloak before returning to the pile of snow just as the man shook his head free. She casually smacked him in the face with the ball end before continuing her journey.

_**The Artist**_

**So there's the first trailer, I didn't think I'd finish it this quickly, but there you are. I hope you like it, and there's more to come later. Let me know if you liked it, hated it, or think I could have done something better, I live for feedback.**

**As Always, I don't own RWBY or anything related to it.**


	2. The Renegade

**The Renegade**

The evening light filtered through the windows of the airship cockpit, turning the room a vibrant orange with its glow as it reflected off the polished interior of the ship as it approached a large, majestic castle in the distance.

The joyous seeming moment, however, did not spread to the occupants of the cockpit, as the captain of the ship gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if his life depended on it, his eyes glued to the building in the distance. In under an hour they'd be there, and this would all be over in a neat fashion. He suspected that wouldn't be the case, which was why there was another person in the cockpit with him.

He leaned against the wall, seeming to be asleep with how little noise he made. He wore a long, black and red greatcoat with a matching in colour tricorne hat. Looking under the hat, he was a clean shaven, Caucasian male with brown eyes, black hair peeking out from under the hat. One however would be less concerned with his face, and more with the pair of swords sheathed at his waist, strapped to a belt buckled with a red, five pointed star with an image of crossed swords on it.

The captain tried to strike up a conversation. "We're almost there now, in about fifteen minutes we'll be ready to land."

"You don't say." muttered the swordsman, a south English accent showing in his smooth voice. "And you still haven't told me what we're doing here."

"That's classified." The captain replied.

"Of course it bloody is."

"Your job's nearly done, so you'll be paid after we get there."

This brought a small smirk to the swordsman's face. Money made the world go round, and it never hurt for him to have more of it.

That was when the door opened and the captain's first mate stepped in. "Is something the matter?" asked the captain.

"You never told us what we were transporting!"

"That was part of the deal. We bring this in, you ask no questions."

"This is too much. I'm relieving you of your rank as captain!" to accentuate his point, the first mate drew his pistol and stuck it right in the captain's face.

The captain looked pleadingly to the other man. "Help me! This is what I hired you for, now help me!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the first mate whirled and pointed the gun right at the other man. "You wanna be a hero? Try me."

To everyone's surprise, he simply raised his hands.

No one could forget the look of absolute horror on the captain's face when this happened. "What am I paying you for?" he demanded.

"First rule of my services: do not antagonize the man with a gun in your face."

"Smart boy." Said the first mate. He brought the gun back around to the captain, but before he could do more, the swordsman grabbed his pistol, shoved it aside and slugged him in the jaw. As the first mate reeled in pain, he kneed him in the gut and as he doubled over he drew one of his swords and hit him in the back of the head with the pommel.

"There are bound to be more of them." He said "I'll head out and make this place safe again." with that, he headed out the cockpit door.

He was instantly met by five other crewmen, each one carrying some form of melee weapon or gun. He sighed, before beginning his attack, knocking a machete aside with one of his blades before kicking its owner in the face. He then cut a gun in half and pommel struck its user over the head before he could get a shot off. Moving to the next man, he blocked a strike from his hatchet before throwing him at his friend before he could get a shot off.

The final man attacked with his sword, but he managed to block it with one of his and use the guard on the other to punch him out. He was about to walk back to the captain when he heard it.

It was faint, but he definitely heard it. A low growl, resonating from the hold of the airship.

Walking back into the cockpit, he saw the captain sitting calmly at the wheel. "Ah, there you are. I assume those fools are dead."

"They're taken care of."

"Good, then I can set the ship on autopilot for the rest of the trip. It'll land for us and then I'll give you your pay."

The captain made his way to the door, but was stopped when the swordsman shut it in his face. "What's in the hold?"

The captain looked at him, exasperated "I already told you it's classified. Now if you'll let me dispose of the crew,"

"Oh I've had enough of your bloody secrets." He said, evenly. He took one step toward the captain and punched him in the face. He fell to the floor as the swordsman stood over him. The room suddenly seemed to get darker. "Whatever's down there made your crew turn on you, and since I highly doubt your entire crew was six blokes with a nark on, something's happened to the rest and I think that has something to do with it." His eyes turned red as he picked the captain off the floor and brought him right up to his face. The rest of the room went dark as his voice seemed to drop in pitch. The captain could see fangs when he opened his mouth to speak again. "Now tell me, what's down there?"

"We're transporting Grimm!" the captain blurted out. "We're taking them to this professor at beacon! He didn't tell us what he wanted them for, just that he did!"

"Give me my money!"

The terrified captain dug into his pocket and with a shaking hand threw out a pouch of coins. "Take it!" the swordsman caught it, and the room returned to normal.

With that, he walked out to the rest of the ship and opened the door to the hold, immediately running the Beowolf on the other side through on a cutlass before walking through. He looked down into the hold to see the whole place full of the lupine Grimm.

He grinned before flicking a switch on both cutlasses, causing a small barrel to emerge from both hilts. He charged, leaping over the hold, pointing his swords and spraying bullets at the Grimm, landing on the other side, he continued to fire, stopping when his guns clicked empty only to charge at the wolves. He cut the head off of one before blocking a claw strike from another, removing it's arm before running it through.

He withdrew both his blades and shoved both into the chest of a charging Beowolf before picking it up on the swords and hurling it at another. He pounced on the downed wolf and plunged a sword into its head.

Looking around at the rest of the Beowolves, he chortled before ejecting the clips from his swords and replacing them with fresh ones.

The Grimm charged. He gunned down the first one with a burst from his left cutlass, decapitating another with his right at the same time. He then spun in a circle, spraying bullets as he did, peppering the remaining Grimm with lead. By the time the guns were empty, only three of the creatures remained.

He dodged the charge of the first and ran it through before cutting the head off the second and using both blades to impale the third.

His work done, he sheathed his weapons, dusted off his hands and walked back up to the main deck to find the captain still in the fetal position. "Cheer up mate, we're here."

_**The Artist**_

_**The Renegade**_

**oxoxoxo**

**Author's note. I probably won't update this soon again, but I want to get these trailers out fairly quickly. Expect the other two by the end of next week, and from then I'll try and make regular updates.**


	3. The Noble

**The Noble**

Three men stood outside a building. The first two wore standard police uniforms of blue and black with caps on their heads and pistols in hand. The third, he was different.

First, he wore a larger, wide brimmed hat with a large blue feather in it, the hat covering a good amount of his long blonde hair, but doing nothing to hide his bright blue eyes and thin moustache. His extravagance didn't end there, rather it continued with the rest of his clothing: a royal blue tabard with a golden fleur de lis on the front covering an armoured chestplate. His shirt and pants were of fine black silk, and below all that were a pair of knee high brown boots. In his hand, he held a long, metallic carbine rifle, a scope on top and a bayonet sticking out the front, emerging from the gun.

The nobleman turned to his men and spoke in a voice that resonated loud and proud in their ears. "_Mes amis_, this group has eluded us for too long, and now that we have finally tracked down their base of operations, and now we deliver le coup de grace. We will end them here, and rescue those they have taken as hostages!" his eyes were bordered with gold as he spoke, and as he did, the glow spread to the eyes of the men as they seemed to stand taller the more he spoke.

"Stand with me," he said, louder "The day will be ours!" he said, raising his carbine in the air. The two men let out a shout and raised their arms with him.

All of them readied their weapons and faced the door. "Remember, _mes amis_," he spoke once more "the cell is small, but they have mechanical aid as well. Be cautious as you go. _Bon chance_."

With that, he brought his foot back and, in one swift motion, kicked down the door and immediately shot the mechanical soldier behind it. He walked in calmly, the two officers following at the same pace. Another mechanical soldier entered the room, but was immediately shot by one of the officers.

They continued their calm, yet quick pace, immediately removing any threat that crossed them with either a single shot or bayonet.

Down the corridor they went, never stopping. Another machine entered from a side door behind them, but the noble pointed his carbine over his shoulder and dropped it with a single shot to the face. As the two officers fired on two droids appearing in front of them.

They continued their march until they met a door at the end of the hall. Trying the handle, he found it was locked, so he brought up his boot and knocked it down only to be immediately shot from within and fall to the floor. The two officers brought up their guns and fired at the two droids in the room before they noticed its contents: about two dozen people, tied and gagged. "Looks like he was right." Said one, looking down at the man who had led them here. "Poor guy."

That was when they heard him groan. A large dent in his chestplate, the nobleman rose from the floor. "I'm going to need to get that repaired." He muttered.

He got to his feet and turned to the men. "Get the hostages out of here, now. I'm going after the head."

The officers nodded as he continued down the hall. A droid emerged from a nearby room, but didn't even get a shot off before there was a bayonet in its face. Another emerged from a further door, but without breaking his stride, the nobleman shot it in the head. Realizing he had no ammunition left, he opened the gun and loaded another stripper clip, continuing his pace the whole time.

Finding the final door, he kicked it down to find the two heads of the cell. And one of the hostages held by one as a shield.

"You're finally here." Said the first man, brandishing his zweihander "You cost me and my friend here a lot of money, not to mention most of our guests."

"Luckily we still had one left." Said the second man, aiming his pistol at the noble from behind a gagged brunette woman. "So you can walk out right now, and we'll send her home a little wor-"

He didn't get another word out before a carbine shot hit him between the eyes and he fell to the ground. The man with the sword made a run for her, but before he could, the noble's carbine unfolded, the stock and barrel peeling off the bayonet forming a hand guard for what was now a straight sword that swatted his blade to the ground.

The criminal turned to face him and raised his sword for an attack. The noble stepped out of the way as the blade bit into the ground. He came in with a thrust from his blade, but the criminal stepped out of the way and came back with a spinning slash, one that the noble ducked under.

He then came back with a stab right to the leader's kneecap, sending the man to his knees. He struggled to get back up as his opponent closed in. As the noble stood over him, he looked up and smirked. The criminal pressed a button on his watch and a force of droids burst into the room, weapons trained on him.

Before anyone could react, the nobleman shot forward, running one of the machines through on his sword before turning to do the same to another which he then turned around to use as a shield as the others opened fire. He threw the riddled husk of a machine at its companions before charging and stabbing one through its 'head' and another in the 'chest.' He then returned the sword to its rifle form and opened fire, downing three other troops before they could fire on him.

Soon, the room was clear, and the only ones left were him and the hostage. Wait, where did the cell leader go?

The hostage called out through her gag, the noble ran over and cut off the gag with his bayonet. "He went that way!" she blurted out, pointing to the door he entered the room through.

After cutting off her bonds, the noble ran back the way he came, soon spotting the fleeing man, limping to the exit using the wall for support. Deciding to bring him down, he raised his rifle and gave one last shot and the man fell, crying out in pain.

He calmly walked over to the downed man. "Oh relax _mon ami, _I didn't kill you, did I?"

_**The Artist**_

_**The Renegade**_

_**The Noble**_


	4. The Rival

**The Rival**

Onto an empty stage shone a bright light. Someone was speaking, but no one paid them any attention as anyone watching the stage focused only on the light splitting into two spotlights as they shone onto two girls as they walked onto the stage from either side.

The first was a red haired girl with bright green eyes dressed in a strapless bronze chestplate that hugged her figure with a brown miniskirt at the bottom, and thigh high bronze greaves. on her head was a bronze circlet with small chains coming off it. She carried a small shield in her left hand, and a red spear with bronze details in her right.

From the other side of the stage came another girl, this one dressed quite differently than the first, in a gleaming steel segmented chestplate reaching over her shoulders and partway down her arms, a purple skirt coming out of the bottom, steel greaves up to her knees and topped off with a steel centurion helmet with a purple plume on top. She carried with her a large, rectangular purple shield with an iron boss in the centre, and a shortsword.

The two girls stood on opposite sides of the arena, neither one making a move, only looking into each others' eyes as the announcer spoke. Neither of them heard it though, as like the audience, they were too focused on one another. This was to be their final battle.

It was only a moment later when the announcer gave the one word the audience and the two girls were waiting for: "Begin!"

The Centurion girl made the first move, charging forward, shield held in front of her, smashing right into the other girl and knocking her back as she continued to push forward. She tried to stab her with her shortsword, but the bronze clad girl rolled right off her shield and tried a stab at her back, but her steel opponent spun around and batted the spear aside with her shield.

The bronze girl jumped back before the steel girl could get in a slash or stab, her spear collapsing into a shortsword as she did. The other girl, not even pausing for breath, charged again, but this time, the result was different, with her opponent, instead of holding her ground, dodging out of the way of her charge and immediately attacking from her now open flank. The steel girl brought up her sword to block the attack, but didn't manage to do, as her blade was smacked aside before the bronze girl's might.

Bronze immediately came back with a stab, but was parried by steel at the last moment, before steel brought her sword back for another attack that bronze jumped back from.

The Amazonian bronze girl then kicked her Centurion opponent in the shield, knocking her back, but not over. But that was all she needed as she brought back her spear and attacked from out of her reach, and with such speed and frequency that it forced the other girl back, all of it ending with her jumping back a distance that the spear could not cover. The girl in bronze smirked "I thought you were always aggressive."

She faltered when her smirk was reflected under the other girl's helmet. "I am." She said, planting her shield on the ground. A whirring noise was heard as the shield's boss opened to reveal ten spinning barrels, all of which opened fire, the bronze clad girl having just enough time to leap out of the way as the stream of bullets tore through where she was just standing.

The Centurion continued her all out fire, the other girl never being able to get close enough to attack her. But that wasn't her concern at the moment. The Amazonian girl managed to shift her weapon's form again, this time forming a rifle and putting her shield on her back. She leaped into the air and opened fire, most of it being deflected off the other girl's shield, but one shot glancing off the plume on her helm and knocking it clean off, revealing her ivory skin, brown hair and red eyes to the audience and her opponent.

This didn't stop her, though. Regaining her balance, the Centurion pulled down on her shield's trigger again and was about to fire when a black aura surrounded her shield and tossed it to the side. She looked down at her now empty hand just long enough to let the bronze girl charge, sword and shield ready. She only had time to raise her sword to block the first attack, and was forced onto the defensive as the other girl continued her relentless assault, stabbing and slashing over and over again, not letting the steel clad girl get a single strike of her own in.

That was when the match was decided in one more move, the bronze girl knocked the Centurion's blade aside, spun around and hit her in the head with her shield.

Now dazed by the blow, the steel clad girl could do nothing to stop her opponent slamming into her, shield first, and then giving her one good blow with her spear, sending her off the stage.

Looking up from where she now lay, the steel clad girl only saw her bronze clad rival now standing over her, a kind smile on her face. While her looks were neutral, all she felt right now was rage. Wanting to wipe that smile off her foe's face. She rejected the hand of assistance offered to her by her opponent and stalked off to collect her shield as her new enemy was given her prize.

This would not be forgotten by her. The victor, maybe, but not the defeated.

_**The Artist**_

_**The Renegade**_

_**The Noble**_

_**The Rival**_

**oxoxoxo**

**So there's the last of the trailers, the next chapter will get the story rolling. It'll take place during the first season of RWBY, with the original characters appearing alongside the ones I've just introduced. Obviously some story elements will have to change, but not too many, don't worry. I would never do anything to hurt Monty Oum's baby.**


	5. Welcome to Beacon

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 1**

"How's your first day going little sister?"

Rube Rose gave her sister a sour look. "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

Yang heard some snickers from a guy in front of her as she replied "Yikes, meltdown already?"

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice..."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

Ruby snorted. "I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me! And then I sneezed and I exploded, and then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me-"

"YOU!"

"Oh God, it's happening again!" Ruby cried, jumping into her sister's arms at the arrival of the irate heiress Weiss Schnee. The snickers from before were replaced by the sounds of someone desperately trying to hold back laughter.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss continued.

"Oh my God you really exploded." Yang muttered.

"It was an accident, it was an accident!" Ruby pleaded. She was going to say more, but then Weiss shoved a flyer in her face entitled _Dust for Dummies and Other Inadequate Individuals._ "What's this?"

Weiss launched into a speech she had given many a time before. "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product, although not mandatory,"

Ruby zoned out as Weiss gave her speech, the stifled laughs from in front of them ceased. "Um..."

"You really want to start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?"

"Then read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss concluded.

Yang scratched the back of her head and spoke again. "Look, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot, why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah," said Ruby "great idea sis. Ahem. Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies."

"Yeah," the heiress replied "and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about cute boys like," picking a random example, Weiss pointed to a certain skinny blonde knight that ruby had met earlier "Tall, Blonde and... Scraggly over there."

"Wow, really?" said Ruby, voice full of hope.

Weiss just glared at her for a few seconds before replying. "No."

From in front of them, all that was heard was a roar of laughter as a boy in front of them in a black coat with black hair turned around and spoke in an accented voice "Bloody hell, you two should sell tickets to this!"

Yang turned, ready to punch this guy out. "Do you mind?" she paused for a moment when she faced him though. "Wait, Thatch?"

"Yang? Yang Xiao Long?" the boy in front of them replied. "I heard you might be going to Beacon, it's good to see you again."

"You know this guy?" asked Ruby.

Yang was about to reply when over the loudspeakers came the noise of someone clearing their throat. Everyone turned to the front of the room as Headmaster Ozpin began his speech. "I'll... keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ruby could do nothing but smile at this. That was exactly what she planned to do.

Her smile dropped a little as Ozpin continued his speech, his voice never leaving its original deadpan tone. "But I look among you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Everyone in the room looked confused as Ozpin calmly walked off the stage, his place at the microphone taken by the woman everyone recognized from her message to them as Professor Glynda Goodwitch. But no one could identify the man standing behind her. He stood tall and proud with long brown hair and green eyes that looked to all the world to be deeper than the sea itself. He wore a long red coat, buttoned all the way up under which could be seen black trousers and boots. At his waist were a pair of sabres, one on each side. He stood behind Goodwitch as she spoke.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She said "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

The boy Yang had called Thatch scratched his head before placing a tricorne hat on it. "What was that?"

"He seemed kind of off, almost like he wasn't there." Yang replied.

Jaune entered the conversation for a moment, seemingly just to say to Weiss "I'm a natural blonde, you know!"

Weiss smacked her forehead and stormed off, muttering to herself about being surrounded by idiots. She was on her way out of the hall, still muttering to herself, when she ran directly into someone, causing both her and him to fall to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she snapped.

"I am very sorry, _mademoiselle_, please forgive me." She boy she ran into said. He stood up and offered her a hand up. He was dressed mostly in blue with a fancy black, wide brimmed, feathered hat on his head. He offered her his hand, but she smacked it aside.

"Look where you're going next time." She snapped again, mood not at all improved by his manners. "Just who are you?"

"Francois Delatrois," he replied, giving a bow "_et vous, mademoiselle?_"

"Weiss." She replied, walking away.

"No last name?" said Francois, following after her. "Surely a lady of such fine dress is of equally fine lineage."

"Maybe," said Weiss, continuing her walk "but that's not of your concern now, is it?"

"Maybe," Francois replied, continuing to follow "But we'll both be here for four years, and may end up on the same team, so you may as well meet the people you'll be with, _vraiment?"_

Weiss already didn't like this guy. He seemed way too much like all the heirs her father kept on trying to set her up with in recent years. Sure, he seemed like one of the better ones, the fact that he was here at Beacon at least showed some level of skill, but with his clothing and the way he talked and carried himself made it obvious he was some kind of nobility.

"Why do you care?" Weiss retorted.

"Perhaps I merely wish to meet someone new." Said Francois, catching up. "You may as well meet new people at a new place, _non?_"

oxoxoxo

"So you and Yang knew each other at Signal?"

"Righto," said Thatch, replying to the red clad reaper. "she's sort of the reason I didn't flunk out last year."

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"Well I'd like to say she inspired me with her amazing motivational speeches, but that's only partly true." Said thatch, looking over at the blonde.

"What do you mean 'only partly?'"

"By that I mean she did inspire me with a speech, but it wasn't a 'you can do it' speech or anything like that. No, Yang gave me a choice: get my arse back in class or she'd kick it into next week."

Yang snorted at the memory while Ruby giggled and nudged the knight next to her. "You hear that Jaune?" she didn't get an answer. "Jaune?"

The young knight barely heard her. He was too busy staring off into space, lost in thought. That professor who stood on stage with Goodwitch, who was he? Why did he seem so familiar? He'd tried to cover up his thinking, but he could only do so much before he was lost in his mind. _That attempt to flirt with Snow White back there was just genius._ He thought._ Not weird at all Jaune._

"OY!"

Jaune jumped at the noise to see it was Thatch who had spoken. "Uh, yeah?"

"Didn't you have a sword at some point?"

"Yeah, it's nothing special though, just a, wait, where is it?" Jaune clutched around his belt looking for the blade, but found nothing. "Ah nuts. You guys go ahead to the ballroom, I'll meet you there when I have it."

They bid farewell and Jaune began to retrace his steps, making his way back to where Ozpin had given his speech when he heard it. "Hey."

Jaune looked up to see a girl dressed in purple cloth and silver armour walking towards him. She didn't look happy. He had no idea what she could have been mad about, and he didn't know how to deal with angry girls. _Pull yourself together Arc! Remember, confidence is the key. _"Uh, hi?" _smooth move, idiot._

The girl walked right up to him and looked him right in the eye. Jaune swallowed at her piercing gaze, her red eyes seeming to look right into his soul. That was when she pulled away slightly and held out his sheathed blade. "You dropped this."

The now confused knight grabbed the blade, and the centurion turned on her heel and walked off. "Hey, thanks!"

She stopped for a moment. "Don't mention it." And then she kept walking.

"You're not even going to tell me your name?"

"Maria."

"Uh okay." Jaune muttered. It was then that someone patted him on the back. He turned to see a shorter, oriental girl with green eyes and black hair dressed in red robes with green armour. "HI?"

The girl just smiled and walked off, making the knight even more confused.

He scratched his head before muttering "What just happened?"

oxoxoxo

"I should have known it would happen eventually."

Glynda Goodwitch looked over at her red coated companion. "Is something the matter Curtis?"

He looked back to her. "It's nothing Glynda, just something I'll have to deal with."

oxoxoxo

**Well, there's chapter 1, and since term papers are FINALLY over, I'll be able to write more now.**

**Hope you like this chapter, and sorry it took so long.**


	6. The Test Begins

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 2**

Maria Gaia sat in the corner of the large ballroom at Beacon Academy, polishing _Imperator_. She cast her mind back to how she got here and could not say she was entirely pleased with what happened. She had been so great before until that fateful day when she was defeated. Maria had never lost before, and to say she was angered at the loss would have been an understatement. She was livid, humiliated, and most of all defeated. But that didn't stop her. No, at the first chance she got, Maria applied to Beacon and they, acknowledging her record in combat, had agreed to allow her in. She knew they only accepted the best at Beacon and was determined to meet and exceed that standard at any cost, rebuilding herself after the defeat and doubling her training regimen. Now she was ready for anything Beacon could throw at her.

Looking around the ballroom, she noticed that most people had now fallen asleep with the exception of only a few, a dark haired girl in the corner who silently reading a book by candlelight, a white haired girl who didn't look too happy to be talking to a tall, blonde boy, a black haired boy who was walking towards them, and an oriental girl in another corner who was drawing on her sketch pad. Maria looked at them and then back to her now shining shield. Maybe it was time to call it a night.

oxoxoxo

"Look, will you just leave me alone?"

"What is the matter _madame? _I only wish to talk, and you look like you could use some company."

Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes. Francois and her had split soon after they met earlier today, but when she entered the ballroom she had run into him. Literally. Again. And while he was still polite despite all she had said, Weiss still didn't want him around. He was just too much like the noble boys her father had tried to make her get close to, and she was having none of it. _'I swear, if he's on my team I'll-"_

Weiss' train of thought was interrupted by an unfortunately familiar voice. "Don't bother with this one friend, calling her an 'Ice Queen,' is an insult to the ice."

"Oh great, you again." Weiss grumbled. She was about to say more when Francois got up.

"I don't know who you are, but my friend here does not seem to appreciate your company." He began, "I think you should leave."

"I'm trying to help you here," The boy in black responded.

"Did I ask for your help?"

"Well, no.

"Then that's it then." Francois finished "Go."

Thatch shrugged and walked off muttering to himself about nobles. He'd left Yang and Ruby to their devices, and seeing as he wasn't tired and there were still people awake he'd look and see if he could find someone to talk to. Yang and Ruby were harassing some dark haired girl, Jaune was passed out on his sleeping bag and apparently Weiss did not want to talk to him and neither did that other guy. He looked around and noticed something. _Well, there's at least one person still awake to talk to. _He thought, seeing the girl in the corner with her sketch pad. He made his way over to her and took a seat. "What have you got there?"

The girl looked up from her drawing to notice him sitting next to her. She didn't say anything, just smiled at him and turned her sketch pad to face him. Thatch took the book and looked over the image. The dark haired boy looked up from the book and stared the artist right in the face. "Is this a photo?"

The girl said nothing, merely smiling and shaking her head. Thatch looked back at the drawing. The entire page was taken up by an incredibly detailed drawing of Beacon in all but colour. Marking the page with a finger, Thatch turned to the cover of the book, hoping to find a name. "Alison Zu, is it?"

The girl nodded.

"Pleasure to meet you Alison, I'm Thatch Edwards." The renegade said before taking a look up at the clock. "Well, it's been nice chatting with you, well, sort of, but it's getting a bit late so I'd best say goodnight. See you tomorrow."

Alison watched him walk off, smiling to herself. "Thank you." She said quietly.

oxoxoxo

As the students slept, another conversation was happening, this one was slightly less pleasant. "Listen sir, I have nothing but the utmost respect for you, but I cannot do this." The red coated professor pleaded.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses before replying. "Curtis, I merely gave you a list of students for you to test tomorrow, we all have to perform the tests with the students-"

"Yes, but you know full well why I can't test _this _student!"

"And why might that be Curtis?" The red garbed man turned to face his teaching partner, a tall man dressed mostly in black with a long flowing cape down his back and a rapier at his belt. Looking up to his face, one would see gelled back hair and piercing blue eyes and his most striking feature: a long, jagged scar running down the right side of his face from his forehead over his eye and down to his jaw line.

"Erik, I know you have no issue with this, but-"

"That's enough, both of you."

The two professors turned to face the one who had spoken. Glynda Goodwitch spoke up once more. "I know why you don't what to test him and I have an idea. You have a student you'd rather not have in your test group and so do I." She turned to Ozpin and showed her the list she had been given. "I propose I exchange this student for Curtis'. He doesn't have to deal with his problem just yet, and I don't have to risk the emerald forest being levelled by two of the students on this list."

Ozpin looked at Goodwitch's list and nodded. "You have a point, very well Curtis, you'll switch students with Glynda."

"Thank you sir." The red coated man said, giving a slight bow. His black cloaked partner merely rolled his eyes in disinterest.

oxoxoxo

The next morning, teams gathered in the locker room to get their equipment and combat garb together.

"That's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"

Lie Ren turned to his energetic, red headed friend. "Come on Nora, let's go."

"But not _together _together..." Nora giggled, following her old friend out.

Ruby watched them go, wondering aloud "I wonder what those two are so worked up about."

Yang turned around to face her sister. "Oh, who knows. So you seem awfully chipper this morning."

The red hooded girl smiled. "Yup, no more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff." she said, pulling her beloved _Crescent Rose _out of her locker. "Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." With that, Ruby hugged her folded up scythe to her chest.

"Well remember Ruby," said Yang "you're not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up you'll have to meet new people and learn to work together."

"She's got a point," Ruby looked to the source of the voice to find Thatch standing there dressed in his greatcoat and hat with a pair of swords sheathed at his waist. "I mean, even as amazing as I am, I need to be able to trust someone other than _Anne _and _Elizabeth _here."

"Ugh, you both sound like dad..." Ruby grumbled. "What does meeting people have to do with fighting? And I don't need people to help me grow up, I drink milk." Ruby finished, crossing her arms and trying to look haughty. Well, trying at least.

"Maybe you should ask for your money back on that." Muttered Thatch.

Before Ruby could say anything to the renegade, Yang spoke up again. "But what about when we form teams?"

Ruby turned around and kicked at the floor awkwardly. "I don't know, I guess I'll just be on your team or something."

"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team..." Yang said, brushing her hair awkwardly as Thatch tried not to laugh.

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

Thatch laughed to himself as Yang tried to come up with a response to that. "What, no, that's-"

"Ridiculous!" said Jaune, marching past, muttering about where he put his gear.

Meanwhile, next to a few other lockers, Weiss spoke to a stunning crimson haired girl in bronze armour. "So Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself."

"Hmm," the girl, now identified as Pyrrha thought "I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha looked behind the heiress for a second. "Seems like someone wants to join you for this one though."

Weiss had a pretty good idea what she would see when she turned around, but she did anyway. "Hello Francois."

"You don't sound very happy to see me _madame._" The nobleman replied.

"I've already told you I don't need you around!" Weiss snapped "I'm doing great without you!"

Francois was about to respond when another voice did for him. "You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc, nice to meet you."

Weiss groaned. "You again?"

Pyrrha stepped up beside her and spoke up. "Nice to meet you Jaune."

The knight pushed her aside to get to Weiss. "Yeah yeah. So, Weiss. Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Weiss grumbled.

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed." Jaune replied. "So, been hearing rumours about teams," he said in a sing-song voice. "I was thinking you and me would make a good one, what do you say."

It was then that Weiss thought of something. "Hey, Francois, do you think you could maybe help me out here.

"_Je suis desole, madame." _Francois began "I thought you didn't need me."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

While Weiss and Francois began to bicker (or rather Weiss did and Francois just took most of the yelling), Pyrrha walked up to Jaune and spoke again. "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each."

"You don't say," Jaune mused "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

Pyrrha was about to respond when things suddenly went downhill very fast. "You!"

Pyrrha and Jaune both turned to where the voice came from, Weiss even stopping mid tirade to look. The speaker was a none too pleased looking girl with brown hair and red eyes in segmented steel armour carrying a large shield marching towards them.

Pyrrha was the first to regain her composure. "Maria? IS that you?" she gave the other girl a smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"What are you so happy about?" The girl Pyrrha had called Maria demanded.

Before Pyrrha could say anything else, Jaune happened. "Well, you seem tough, and not too hard on the eyes, maybe you'd like to join team Jaune too?"

Pyrrha was about to caution Jaune, but before she could, Maria decided to do it herself, smacking the knight in the face with her shield, sending him crumpling to the floor by a locker.

"I see you made it into Beacon." Pyrrha said, hoping to save Jaune further pain.

"I did, thanks for noticing."

Pyrrha was about to keep talking when an announcement by professor Goodwitch came on. "All students report to the main hall to begin intiation."

Maria looked Pyrrha dead in the eye. "We'll talk later." With that, the Centurion walked off.

oxoxoxo

The students arrived at the main hall to find two large papers stuck on the doors. Each paper had several names on it and instructions on where to sit depending on where the name was.

Francois found his name easily and turned to Weiss. "Well _madame, _it seems this is where we part ways."

"I'll try to contain my disappointment." Weiss grumbled in return. While she wasn't going to shed any tears over not being on the same team as Francois, at the bottom of her side's sheet was the name _Jaune Arc._ There was a possibility she could end up on a team with him.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha was grateful. She may not have known anyone on her sheet aside from Jaune and Weiss, but a look down to the bottom of the other sheet revealed to her the name _Maria Gaia. 'On thank dust.' _She said to herself. That could have been awkward.

Still meanwhile, Thatch held his hand out for his old friend. "Well Yang, I guess this is it for now."

Yang accepted the handshake. "I can't help but feel like I'll never see you again Thatch."

"What, you think I'm that bad at this?"

"Well you did get beat up by a girl at Signal."

"Yes, but that girl was you, and you kick so much arse that you need special shoe polish formulated for arse stink."

Ruby giggled as her sister and Thatch talked. She was happy to see she was on the same list as Yang even if the renegade would be on the other side. And hey, Jaune was there too, and so was that Blake girl she had talked to before.

Jaune looked at the list, rather puzzled. He had found his name on one of the lists, but rather than being under A for Arc, his name was at the bottom of the list. He had checked the other list as well, thinking this might have been a mistake, but no, his name was only on this one, right at the bottom. Why was that?

He would have asked, but there was no one to ask right now. It seemed, however, that those who had already read their names on their respective lists were headed into the auditorium, maybe someone in there could answer his question.

Filing into the auditorium, students were greeted by a somewhat familiar sight on the stage. At the front of the stage stood professor Ozpin, waiting at the microphone for all the students to enter the room. To his left stood Professor Goodwitch, as usual, but to his right were two other men. The first was the red coated man from the introduction, still standing tall and proud. The second man was a different story. He was dressed almost all in black, black shoes, black pants, black greatcoat, black cape, the only thing standing out was the white mask made of Grimm bone covering the right half of his face. As far as his features that weren't hidden went, his dark brown hair was gelled back and his eyes were a dark brown.

Once all the students had entered, Ozpin cleared his throat to get the attention of the masses. Seeing that he had it, he began to speak. "Students of Beacon Academy, today will be your initiation. Pass, and you will join the ranks of Beacon's full time students. Fail, and if you're still alive you'll be sent home. Now before I go any further, I have a few introductions I must make." He gestured to the red coated man. "This is Professor Curtis Marlow, our professor of world culture." He then gestured to the man in black. "And this is Professor Erik Fantine, professor of dramatic arts and Grimm studies."

Professor Fantine looked out over the audience, daring anyone to laugh at his teaching position. Surprisingly, no one did.

Ozpin continued. "You will have noticed that your name is on one of the sheets on the door. If you were on sheet number one, you will come with myself and Professor Goodwitch, if you were on sheet number two, you will be tested by Professors Marlow and Fantine, any questions?" Jaune raised his hand. "Good, now follow your professors to your tests and let the initiation begin."

oxoxoxo

Alison looked around where the professors had led them. They were now standing at the top of a large cliff just outside the borders of Beacon Academy. A number of slightly raised platforms stood before them, as did Professors Marlow and Fantine.

"Step forward," Came the deep voice of Professor Fantine "and we will begin."

Following his directions, each student stepped forward onto one of the raised platforms and waited, wondering what their test would be.

Professor Marlow cleared his throat and began to speak. "What few people know about this school is that it was built long ago over many networks of caves." Many a student looked up at the red coated professor at this, but he ignored them and continued. "Some are used for storage, but most are not, and today, for your initiation, you'll be exploring these catacombs."

Professor Fantine picked up from there. "You'll find at the centre of the network you'll be in a shrine, and in it will be several relics. Your task is to retrieve one of these relics and bring it to us."

"Be warned," Marlow continued "these tunnels are home to many species of Grimm, and they will not hesitate to kill you. If you do not fight back you will die."

It was silent after that line; Alison could swear she heard a pin drop.

After a few moments, Marlow spoke up once again. "Now, I'm sure you've heard about the assignment of teams. Allow me to explain how this will work. You will be assigned your partners today. You will join with this person for your time at this school. It is important that your partner be someone you can work well with, as you will be fighting alongside this person against powerful monsters."

Alison looked to her left to see Thatch smiling at her. She smiled back.

However, when Professor Fantine spoke up, her smile faltered and died. "This being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

Several demands of "WHAT!?" followed this, but the professors chose to ignore it.

"Be ready," said Marlow "your initiation begins" he turned to Erik who replied with a nod. "now."

With that line, all the platforms gave way under the students and down they fell into Beacon's unknown heart of darkness.

oxoxoxo

**Well, that was longer than the last one.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading it, and don't worry, there's a lot more to come.**

**Just a little challenge to anyone who's up for it, try to guess which historical figures and/or classic literature characters I based my OCs off of. Here's a list of them.**

**Alison Zu**

**Thatch Edwards**

**Francois Delatrois**

**Maria Gaia**

**Curtis Marlow**

**Erik Fantine**

**Give it a try just for fun, if you do, I'll message you and tell you how many you got right.**

**Also just for fun, here's a deleted scene from the end of the chapter:**

Erik and Curtis watched their students tumble down into darkness, waiting until the panicked screams died out before turning to each other.

"You think they'll live?" asked Marlow.

Fantine shrugged. "Maybe."

Marlow gave a faint smirk, something he wasn't often seen doing. Erik followed, doing the same.

"Dumping students down a trapdoor never loses its entertainment value, does it?" asked Fantine.

"No, old friend, it doesn't." Replied Marlow "Although sometimes I wish I had Ozpin's job."

Erik folded his arms. "I don't always drink coffee, but when I do I sip it by the cliff as launch undergraduates off it."

Both professors got a hearty chuckle out of that.


	7. Into the Caverns

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 3**

oxoxoxo

Thatch Edwards had caused a lot of terror in his life. He'd intimidated those who didn't pay him, he'd scared off anyone who had ever tormented him, hell his _semblance _was _terror, _so by dust, he knew how to scare someone.

At the moment, however, the once terrifying Thatch Edwards screamed at the top of his lungs as he was dropped down a tube from the surface.

He mentally struggled for a moment as half his mind tried to figure a way to survive the inevitable landing while the other half was too busy screaming. In the end, the more rational side won out, and came up with one idea. The other side was terrified of it, but it was either this, or become a stain on the cave floor.

Seeing the end of the drop approaching as the pipe opened up to a chamber bellow, Thatch knew it was now or never. He immediately drew both his swords and jammed them into the wall. _Anne _and _Elizabeth _bit deep into the stone walls, but he just kept falling, carving two trenches into the wall until he finally ground to an agonizing halt. Thatch took a moment to look down. From his chest up he was still in the tube, but from the shoulders down dangled into a large stone chamber.

It was a fairly featureless room carved into a giant dome like shape. The ceiling, luckily, wasn't very high, so Thatch could drop down and have a better look at the room.

_As soon as my heart stops racing. _He thought. _Then I'll pull the ladies out of the wall._

oxoxoxo

An empty, grey, stone room. Nothing in sight but dust and the occasional spider. This room may once have sported life, but if so, that was long ago, nothing had even entered through the long, straight passage to the surface for quite some time. It was truly peaceful.

Then, one day, from the pipe to the surface, if one was listening from the chamber they could swear they heard screaming from above.

This thought, however would only last a few seconds before the thinker... well didn't think much anymore.

Looking up through the tube to the surface, one would see that the light seemed to be getting closer and closer, and with the light came heat. Continuing to look, and in fact, remaining in the room at all would soon be found to be a mistake as a blazing inferno surged out of the tube, hitting the floor of the chamber and splashing all over the floor and even up the walls. It would go on for a few seconds, and then about as quickly as it began it would cease and into the room would drop a young girl in red robes and a green chestplate and boots carrying a zhua.

Alison Zu took one look around the now blackened room. Looking around, she would see that there were no other entrances, so at least no one else would be hit by the blast. She ejected the now used up fire dust cartridge in her zhua, _Pianji. _She had a feeling she'd need the extra firepower.

oxoxoxo

In another empty room, if one looked to the surface, they'd see dust and a few small rocks fall through the tube flowed soon by a large, purple shield and a girl in segmented armour and a helmet.

Maria Gaia counted herself lucky. The tube she had been dropped down had begun to become narrower as she fell, allowing her to wedge her mighty shield in between the walls and slow her fall enough to safely hit the ground.

She counted her blessings again to have a near indestructible shield as she didn't want to risk losing her sword.

Recovering her shield, _Imperator_, Maria drew the blade from the sheath on her hip and looked at her reflection in the dim light of the room. Her own red eyes stared back at her, defiantly, as if daring her to not keep moving.

Looking around the room, she noticed there was only one door. Determined to not waste any more time, Maria marched, shield raised, towards the door.

oxoxoxo

Rather than come out a tube in the top of the room, the path Francois Delatrois had fallen down had twisted and turned a lot, allowing him to slow his momentum down enough so that he wasn't immediately launched out of the tube to make an impression on the opposite wall of that which it ended on.

When the tube ended, spitting him out of a wall in another empty room, Francois hit the ground, rolled, landed on one knee, drew his sword, _Mademoiselle, _shifted it into its carbine form and looked around the room, gun pointed. Seeing that the room was clear, Francois rose to his feet, keeping his gun in hand, and made for the only exit: a single door on the opposite side of the room.

Making his way there, Francois looked over the door. It had no handle and didn't seem particularly sturdy so he took the only way through: he took one step back, raised his foot and kicked down the door, immediately aiming through it. Seeing that he now faced another empty room, this one a large cube shaped room with a door on each wall, Francois lowered his gun, but didn't holster it. He took a few steps into the large room, noticing only two other doors on opposite ends of the room.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise as the lock was knocked off one of the doors. The nobleman wasted no time in aiming at the door. Finger on the trigger, eyes looking down the lights at the door, he felt a single bead of sweat drip down his brow.

The door flew off its hinges in a cloud of dust and Francois heard the sound of guns being cocked. He still didn't take his finger off the trigger until the dust cleared whereupon he wished he had just fired. _"Oh merde..." _He muttered.

Thatch Edwards looked across the room at him. "Bloody hell..."

oxoxoxo

Maria opened the door to the next room and immediately raised her shield. She had encountered no Grimm so far, but that meant nothing. She knew full well that every room she came across could very well be full to bursting with the creatures and she wasn't going to be killed by them today or ever. Not if she could do anything about it.

She looked around from behind her shield to see, surprisingly enough, another empty room, this one with four doors, one of which she had just emerged from.

Taking a moment to catch her bearings, she looked around the room trying to remember what turns she had taken on the way here before remembering one crucial detail: she hadn't made a single turn on her entire way down here.

That was when a door burst apart and the centurion turned, opening the boss of her shield to reveal the spinning barrels beneath.

She needn't have worried, for emerging from the door was not a monster of Grimm, but a tall, red haired boy in full plate armour carrying a large mace over his shoulder, clearly what he had used to knock down the door. _'Great.' _She thought. _'Stuck for four years with some random meathead.'_

She was about to introduce herself when the boy did it for her. "Well hello hot stuff." He said in a smug voice and with an expression that made her throw up a little in her mouth. "Name's Cardin, Cardin Winchester," he said, striking a pose. "And since my team's not full yet, maybe you'd like to join, it could always be a little better looking."

Maria wanted to vomit again, but then she noticed something about what he said. "Wait, what do you mean 'not full yet?'"

Her question was answered when another boy emerged from the door behind Cardin. He wore brown armour and had a head of blonde hair. He carried a halberd with him, the bottom edge looking like a barrel of some kind. Cardin turned to the other boy. "Hey Dove, look at what I just found."

The boy he had called 'Dove' gave her a quick once over, lingering on her legs that were visible beneath her skirt. Feeling her face heat up, Maria quickly hid her lower half behind her shield.

Dove turned back to Cardin. "Nice one."

Cardin looked like he was about to say something else when one of the other doors flew off its hinges and nearly smacked right into the two boys. Maria looked at the door. There was one single scorch mark on it. She looked to where it came from to see an oriental girl dressed in red and green standing in the door frame carrying a large metal pole with a claw on one side, a zhua, if she remembered correctly. The girl gave a shy smile and a small wave.

Cardin was the first to say anything. "Well looky here, we've got two lovely ladies on our new team, I like where this is going." He looked over to Dove and gave a smirk. "I think I should get first pick of the ladies."

"Why you?" demanded Dove as he tried to look threatening and failed due to Cardin being a full head taller than him.

Before Cardin could respond, Maria snapped at him. "Look, I don't care if I have to be on the same team as you. You don't get to touch me, you don't get to touch her, and that's final. Got it."

"Ooh, I like 'em feisty." Cardin grinned. "I'm sure you'll come around eventually, after all, we'll be on the same team for four years."

"Uh, actually..." the entire room turned to look at the new girl. "The eye contact rule only applies to the first person on your team, so really neither of us is on your team. You lose." She said in a quiet voice.

Cardin's mouth hung open. Dove tried to find the right words. Maria just smirked and walked over to the other girl. "I think I'm going to like it on your team." She said, patting the other girl on the back. "What's your name?"

"A-Alison Zu." She said softly.

"Well Alison, I'm Maria Gaia, nice to meet you. Now come on," said the Centurion, pointing to the last door. "We've got relics to find."

The two girls walked over to the final door, Cardin and Dove following. Cardin raised his mace to break the door, but Alison put up a hand to stop him. "Allow me." She gave the door a quick once-over, her eyes glowing blue for one second before she raised her weapon and gave one smack to a point just off the centre of the door. It flew right off its hinges and hit the wall of the next room.

Cardin looked at this tiny girl in awe. Maria resisted the urge to laugh. "I'd like to see you try to do that." She said as she and Alison walked through the now open door.

Oxoxoxo

**Well, now that exams are over I can get back to the things I love. Oh and writing too I suppose.**

**As for why Cardin's in the caves, think of it this way: we never see him in the Emerald Forest with the rest of the group, so in my story I give a reason why.**

**Also, seriously, no guesses as to who the characters are? None at all?**

**Well, while you guys decide whether or not to try and answer that, here's another deleted scene.**

"Ooh, I like 'em feisty." Cardin grinned. "I'm sure you'll come around eventually, after all, we'll be on the same team for four years."

Maria watched in disgust as the boys didn't even try to hide the fact that they were ogling her, but she knew what she would do about it. _'Time for a little something from an old friend.' _She thought, remembering someone at sanctum.

Strapping her shield to her back, she waltzed over to Cardin, swinging her hips with every step until she was right in front of him. She raised her hand up to run a finger down the front of his chestplate. "You sure I'm a nice one? Maybe I'm a little naughty." She said, wrapping a hand around his back.

Cardin opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a high pitched squeak when Maria's knee met his family jewels. He wanted to collapse, but her arm around his back held him up to face him.

Maria, all the while looking him in the eye, used her free hand to draw her sword and point it where she had just kicked. "Talk to me or look at me like that and I'll make sure you never feel pain like that again. Got it?" Maria said in a sickly sweet voice.

Cardin meekly nodded.

Maria let him go and he fell to the ground. She turned to walk away, but looked back for just a moment. "Oh, and I'll break both your legs too if I see you do that to her," she said, pointing at the Oriental girl standing in the newly opened doorway.


	8. Into the Caverns II

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 4**

oxoxoxo

"How did I end up stuck with you?"

"_Mon Dieu, _do you ever stop your whining?"

"I'm not whining noble boy," Thatch Edwards replied as he and his new partner Francois Delatrois approached another door, weapons drawn. After meeting eyes, the two of them were forced by the rules of the test to join as a team, a prospect that neither one was thrilled about. "I'm not excited about working with someone so fresh off the silver spoon." He grumbled as he sheathed one of his swords to try the handle to the door.

"And perhaps I do not wish to work with a rude, obnoxious criminal!" Francois retorted. "I don't have much of a choice in this though, seeing as I'm stuck with you now."

"Don't remind me." Thatch muttered. He turned the doorknob to find it unlocked and raised his other sword as he pushed it open. The two huntsmen entered the room, finding it to be a narrow hallway of featureless stone with a ceiling about six feet above the ground and just wide enough for the both of them to enter. Thatch held up both his swords and pointed the barrels of their guns down the corridor. "It's a bit tight, hope you're not too afraid of a little dirt and dust."

"_Tres drole..." _muttered the nobleman.

"I'll go first," Thatch said, seriously. "If anything attacks I don't need as much room to fight it."

"Finally, something sensible out of your mouth."

Thatch chose to ignore the retort and began to advance down the corridor, guns raised. Francois followed behind him, walking backwards with his rifle pointed behind them. Neither one spoke a word as they advanced down the tunnel, giving each one time to think.

_Here's hoping he's not too much dead weight. _Thought Thatch _At least he has a decent weapon._

_Well, if there's one thing to be said about criminals it's that they're usually tough. _Francois mused. _Now if he could just shut his mouth._

"There's a light up ahead." whispered Thatch, breaking the silence. "It's dim, but it's something. Let's go."

The nobleman only nodded as they continued down the tunnel toward the light. Thatch emerged first into the new room and looked around. Francois was about to follow when Thatch held out an arm and stopped him in his tracks.

"What is it now?" demanded Francois.

"Shut up." The renegade responded.

"Why? What's going on?"

"Friend, if you've any faith in me, you'll take off that ridiculous hat and look up without a word. Then you'll shut up."

Francois chose to ignore the comment about his attire, but looked up none the less. His mouth opened when he realized why Thatch had told him to be quiet. The Nobleman looked around the room to see there were two other doors besides the one they'd just entered through. He gestured with _Mademoiselle _to the door on the opposite side of the room before looking to his companion. Thatch nodded and the two set off across the large room.

The place was massive, a huge, circular room that reminded Thatch of an arena. _All it's missing is a scoreboard. _He thought to himself. This thought was derailed by a second one: _Not a sound. Keep moving._

Francois was surprised at what Thatch had done. Only knowing the man for a short time, he could tell that he was no stranger to trouble, but he was choosing to avoid it now. Why was that? _Figure it out later! _He thought in a harsh whisper. _Focus on silence!_

The two companions had just made their way to the middle of the room, all the while moving quietly, taking light steps. They didn't speak, and barely even let out a breath. They had just made it too when everything went wrong.

The door on the other side of the room suddenly flew off its hinges and with a loud 'BANG!' Thatch turned to the now open door, murder in his eyes, while Francois gave a nervous glance to the ceiling.

Coming through the door were two boys, a shorter, scrawny looking one with a greenish white Mohawk in torn, green garb and a spiked shoulder pad, and one in grey armour with blue hair and black underclothes. The armoured one was still holding a large sword, glowing with the power of the dust he had used to destroy the door. "Hah, I told you it would work!"

"Guess you were right Lark." Said the other guy. "Hey, who are these guys?"

Either ignoring or missing the frantic gestures from Thatch and Francois, the boy who was identified as 'Lark' shouted out "Hey, you guys were headed for that door, right?" he said, gesturing to the currently sealed door.

Thatch and Francois looked up, and to their dread found exactly what they were afraid of. Gazing at the ceiling, the renegade and nobleman could see numerous red dots staring back down at them. Thatch turned to face the two boys who had just entered the chamber. "Now you've done it."

The two boys looked to the ceiling and immediately wished they didn't. Each of the red dots blinked at them before sets of large wings began to unfurl as several of the creatures dropped down to meet them. Their red eyes were the only parts of the creatures that were not pitch black, but as they descended on the huntsmen in training, they could see their forms. Each one had a five foot body with short, clawed legs, and talons that gleamed white in the darkness. They had thin, black wings, each one semi-translucent and covered in dark veins, together giving each creature a near eight foot wingspan. When one opened its mouth to cry out, its long, white fangs were visible, gleaming in the dim light as they sought their next meals.

They were gigantic bats, and they didn't seem pleased that they had been awoken from their sleep.

Francois wasted no time in shooting down the first one to try and attack them, but the rest were lost in the darkness of the room. Occasionally, one would glimpse the shine of a talon or a fang as the creatures circled the room, but other than that, they were near invisible.

"What the heck are these things?" cried the other boy.

"I don't know," replied Thatch "but I liked them better when they were asleep!" He said as he sprayed one of the creatures with SMG fire.

"They're called Draculings." Said Francois, shooting another one in the head. "They're cave dwelling Grimm, carnivorous, and very ferocious."

"You can barely see them!" said Lark.

"That's why they stay in caves!" Francois replied "Whatever you do, don't let them catch you, they drink blood."

"What does that have to do with anything?" demanded the boy with the Mohawk who had drawn a pair of pistols with large bayonets on the front.

"Does he really need to explain why having your blood drained is bad?" Thatch replied as he cut down an incoming Draculing.

"Just don't let them get close!" yelled Francois as he put a bullet in one bat and impaled another on his bayonet.

"Thanks tips!" said Lark as he cut one in half with a swing of his glowing sword. "What's next, don't let them bite me?" he said, firing a blast of dust energy at another of the creatures.

The green haired boy just ducked under an incoming bat, shooting it in both wings as it flew overhead before firing one of his bayonets, connected to his gun by a cable, into the underside of one Draculing, using the cable to swing it into another before retracting it.

"Nice one Thrush." Said Lark, firing off another dust blast.

"There are still too many here for you to show off right now!" said Thatch as he cut through the mouth of an attacking Grimm and used his other sword to gun down a second one. "Anyone have any bright ideas?"

Francois looked around the room. If they tried to make a run for the door they would be easy prey, but they couldn't just stay here either. He looked to all his companions, one by one before he had an idea. "Thatch, can you scare them away from the door?"

"Maybe for a bit, but they'll be right back."

"Do it on my signal, Lark, when he does that, fire a blast at that side of the ceiling!"

"What? Are you insane? That could kill us!"

Francois stared the other boy down. "Trust me, I have a plan." The nobleman said, pouring his semblance into it as his eyes rimmed with gold for just a moment. He watched with satisfaction as it spread to Lark's eyes, as he bore an expression of determination and gave a single nod.

"You might want to do that for everyone," said Thatch, readying himself "after this, I don't want anyone running the wrong way."

Francois nodded and closed his eyes. When they opened, they were glowing gold, the rims of the other boys' eyes beginning to glow with him as they all felt their spirits raise as confidence flooded their minds and bodies. He turned to Thatch and gave a single word: "Now!"

Thatch nodded and closed his eyes for just a moment re-opening them glowing red. He smirked, showing off a pair of sharp, gleaming fangs. He let out a low chuckle as the shadows of the room seemed to grow darker. As Thatch's laugh grew louder but no less sinister, a wave of dread emanated from him, sending shivers up the spines of his companions. The Grimm on the other hand were not so lucky, one by one as they were caught in the pulse they began to scream, a loud shrill noise that built and built as more and more were caught. They began to fly as fast as they could away from the sealed door, as if it was the maw of a demon threatening to devour them.

Thatch turned to Lark. "Blast it, now!"

Lark nodded and raised his weapon, firing off a blast of red energy at the ceiling above the creatures, firing a second shot just for good luck. As soon as they hit, the room began to shake as dust and small stones rained down from above the creatures, soon followed by the rest of that section of the ceiling, crushing the remaining Draculings as they gave one final scream.

Thrush gave Lark a slap on the back. "Nice shot man!"

"One question:" said Thatch, semblance de-activated. "How did you keep the ceiling from collapsing" at that moment, the room began to shake again. "On us too!"

Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as the four boys ran for the door. Lark got there first, brought back his boot and kicked the door open. He charged through, closely followed by Thrush, Thatch and Francois. As soon as the last of the boys were through the door, a large rock fell over the entrance, narrowly missing Francois as he entered.

"Let's not do that again." said Thrush in between panting.

"Agreed." Said Francois.

Thatch looked into the room they had entered. It was a long, narrow corridor, much like the one that led them to the Draculings. "We should take a minute to catch our breath and then move on. I'll go first, noble boy, you and Lark bring up the middle, Thrush, you take the back."

The others agreed, and before long they were ready to move again.

oxoxoxo

Maria was just about done with Cardin and Dove.

Since they had started walking, the two boys had done nothing but stare at her ass and make bad pickup lines, expecting them to work. At this point, she was tempted to kill them both, and continue the mission with just Alison, claiming that the Grimm did it. _Hell, at this point I'd rather be on a team with that Jaune boy..._

"You know," Cardin said, breaking Maria's thoughts "They're probably going to put us all on the same team anyway, you might as well just admit you want me now and make it easier on us both."

Maria whirled on Cardin, ready to give him a piece of her mind when she discovered something that made her even angrier. He was talking to a hunched away, red faced Alison Zu who didn't look the least bit comfortable with his presence. That was it. She marched briskly over to the knight and slapped him across the face.

"Ow, what the hell?"

"Cut it out. We have a mission to complete, and you're not helping." Said Maria looking him straight in the eye, a difficult thing to do when you're almost a full head shorter than someone. "Now straighten up or I'll leave you for the Grimm."

Cardin rubbed his cheek for a moment before speaking again. "You know, if you wanted me to yourself, all you had to do was ask."

Maria didn't need to turn around for people to feel the rage emanating from her. The cave became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When Maria did turn around, the look on her face was deadly calm, but her eyes said only one thing: _murder._

Cardin gulped. "I think I'll shut up now."

Without a word, Maria turned back around and started down the tunnel, Alison following close behind her and Cardin and Dove bringing up the rear.

The Oriental girl walked up next to the Centurion and quietly said "Thank you."

Maria gave a rare smile. In the short time she'd known Alison, the girl had made herself quite likeable, if a little awkward. She didn't talk much, but Maria was fine with that, she liked quiet, and when she did say something it was nice to hear her speak. "Anytime." Maria said back. _Now if only these two buffoons weren't with us..._

"You know, I have a wonder, if you'll indulge me." Said Maria after a short silence.

"What is it?" asked Alison.

"I've seen what you can do, I mean the first time I saw you, you launched a door across a room and then did it again with just one hit. You're really strong, but you let people like Cardin get to you. Why is that?"

Alison gave a small smile and a shrug. "I guess I'm just not very good with people."

Maria put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe I can help with that."

"You already have." The artist muttered, just loud enough for Maria to hear.

This brought another of those small smiles to Maria's face as they continued through the deep, dark caverns of Beacon Academy.

It wasn't long before the party came across another door, this one considerably larger than the others. Alison raised her zhua to blast it, but Maria held out a hand. "Hold on. Something's not right here."

"What do you mean? We've seen a dozen doors just today, why are you so on edge about this one?" demanded Cardin.

"He's got a point," added Dove "We've knocked down every other door we've seen today, what's wrong with this one?"

"It's huge." Said Maria simply.

"And?" Cardin said, somewhat annoyed.

"Well, why is this one so much bigger than all the others? It doesn't make any sense."

Cardin stepped forward and raised his mace. "I'll bet this is where the relics are." Before Maria could tell him to stop, Cardin wound up a swing and smashed his weapon into the door, smashing it to pieces in a single swing. The good news was that a single look through the door would show anyone entering the shrine in the center, a large, glowing crystal suspended above it lit up the entire room, bathing it in a bright, yet eerie blue light. Looking down at the shrine, several pedestals were visible, each one containing something, but no one could tell what from such a distance.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing in the enormous chamber they had discovered.

That room was a massive cylindrical chamber the walls of which were covered in what appeared to be a large carving of a massive creature. It was a draconic beast with massive wings, each bearing a large claw at the tip with great talons ready to rip flesh from the bones of a giant. Its long neck extending to a great length and topped with a massive, tooth filled maw that looked big enough to swallow an Ursa. The only thing that was out of place was a small chip in the skull of the beast, one about the size of a human head, right in the center of its forehead.

"What the hell is that?" asked Dove.

"Who cares," said Cardin "It's dead, and we found the relics. Let's grab them and head out of here."

"Wait." Said Alison. She quickly pointed down to the shrine with the tip of her zhua and Maria noticed what she saw. Prowling the areas around the shrine were several Ursae, each one much larger than anything seen on land. "They don't look friendly, do they?"

"No, they don't." Said Maria, looking over the area with a critical eye "How did they get so huge?" she wondered aloud.

"A cave dwelling Ursa is much larger than their forest dwelling companions." Said Dove. Maria turned to him with a questioning look. "I read it in a book somewhere."

"Did that book also tell you how to stop them?" asked the centurion. Dove shook his head and Maria let out a sigh. "I guess we have to do this the hard way." She said as she turned to her forces.

Cardin hefted his mace and gave it a spin, a cruel smile on his face.

Dove pumped the action on his halberd, ejecting a spent shell before adding a new one.

Alison twirled her zhua around her before making each talon glow with a different dust power.

Maria gave her team a smirk before she turned toward the creatures of Grimm. She drew her sword and raised her shield, the boss opening up to reveal the spinning barrels beneath it.

With weapons ready, the hunters in training began their advance.

oxoxoxo

**So there's the beginning of the action. Next chapter, the battle for the relics begins as all the groups converge on the shrine as they face the creatures of Grimm in Beacon's heart of darkness.**

**Also, people still haven't guessed who the characters are based off. Oh well. If no one makes any guesses, I'll just post who they are on my profile after the next chapter.**

**I don't have any deleted scenes this time. Sorry about that... I'll see if there are any in the next chapter.**


	9. Heart of Darkness

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 5**

oxoxoxo

"It must be this way..." muttered Francois as he led his companions through the caves.

"Uh noble boy," muttered Thatch "maybe we should let someone else make the plans for a bit. Especially after your last one."

"You mean the one that saved our lives?"

"Yes, the one that almost buried us alive." Thatch countered.

"Oh get a freaking room you two..." grumbled Thrush as the group continued to walk. It hadn't been too long since the battle with the Draculings and the group had been walking through the catacombs ever since, making sure to watch the ceiling in every new room they entered and staying silent in each new room.

Thatch and Francois grumbled something as Lark chuckled quietly.

The laughter and grumbling, however, ceased when they entered the next room, as the boys all looked to one end of the room. Upon that wall was a large metal door. It covered more than three quarters of the massive wall and reached almost to the ceiling. It looked as though it had once been an ornate thing of beauty, but now stood battered and covered in huge dents and scratches as well as rust, completely ruining what had likely once been beautiful carvings.

"What do you suppose this is?" wondered Thatch, tracing a hand over the door. He pulled his hand back and looked over it. "By the layers of dust on this door, there hasn't been anyone here in a while..."

Francois ran a finger over the door and looked at it, seeing that Thatch was right, this room had to have been collecting dust for a while.

Before anyone could say or do anything, Lark was already pushing on the door.

"What are you doing mate?" demanded Thatch.

"This is the biggest door we've seen yet," replied Lark "Obviously, something important is behind it or it wouldn't be so huge. This is probably where the relic is, so help me out here."

Thrush Francois and Thatch all looked to each other before giving a collective shrug and moving to help Lark with the door.

With a collective grunt of effort from the huntsmen and a loud groan from the hinges of the long unused door, it slowly opened, and from behind a cloud of dust, the inside of the room was revealed.

The initiate huntsmen looked over the inside of the massive chamber, seeing the walls covered in what appeared to be carvings of massive, reptilian creatures of all shapes and sizes, some bipedal, some quadruped, and some were even serpentine.

However, the boys didn't have time to appreciate the beauty of the room before they noticed its only occupant.

"_Mon Dieu..." _muttered Francois.

From the reaches of the cave, a sound was heard, a combination of four screams and a what sounded like almost a hissing roar.

oxoxoxo

How a fight could go so wrong, Maria Gaia had no idea.

Things had started good enough, her team had gotten the jump on the Ursae, having approached quickly and quietly and attacked swiftly, Maria opening fire with her shield, Alison attacking with pinpoint dust blasts, Dove shooting down any that got too close and Cardin crushing the skull of one that he missed.

It was right after that that things started going horribly wrong.

Cardin pulled his mace off the dead Ursa as his companions all ceased fire. The remaining Ursae had stopped their charge and were now simply glaring at the hunters in training, growling and occasionally roaring. "Why are they stopping?"

"I don't know." Muttered Maria "But I can't imagine it's a good thing."

Alison was wracking her brain, trying to think of a reason why this would be happening. Why would an Ursa, let alone a pack of them suddenly stop attacking their prey? To her knowledge, Ursae only stopped attacking when their foes were dead or-

Oh dear. This was bad. With a bad feeling in her gut, Alison looked up to the ceiling. "I think I know why."

Maria followed the quiet girl's gaze upwards and her eyes widened when she saw what was above them. On the ceiling, several red eyes opened. The centurion barely had time to yell "Get down!" before the Draculings descended from above, one nearly clasping its jaws over Alison before she ducked. The giant bats began to circle the chamber, every so often flying out of the shadows for an attack only to be beaten back by the hunters.

That was when the Ursae remembered that there was food here and charged.

Cardin smacked the first one with his mace, Dove finishing it with a blast from his halberd before Maria had to save them from a Draculing with a stream of bullets from her chain gun.

"There are too many..." Maria muttered as she ran an Ursa through with her Gladius. Now was one of those moments she wished her semblance was more like her rival's, _'controlling metal or rock would be great right now...' _she thought.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice the Draculing heading straight for her until Alison smacked it with her Zhua. Maria nodded to the other girl before the resumed the battle.

Outnumbered as they were, the hunters were holding their own against the creatures, but there was no way they could continue. They would run out of bullets, or dust, or maybe just get unlucky and die. Something needed to change if they were to have any hope of survival.

That was when something did change, just not for the better.

From another point on the massive chamber, higher off the ground than they were, another massive door was blown open by a huge dust blast, knocking it right off its hinges and smashing right into a Draculing, sending it to the floor.

They didn't have time to admire the shot before four boys ran out and clung to the walls beside the doorway, followed immediately by a monstrous creature that charged right out behind them and fell to the ground. When the creature rose, the light of the crystal revealed its form.

It was massive, its body alone was the size of a house, and that didn't even include the legs. The pitch black body was divided into two halves, a head and an abdomen, the head containing eight eyes, each black as night, and a massive set of fangs, dripping with what looked like saliva but sizzled when it touched the ground. Its upper side was coated in a layer of polished white bone that extended to cover its legs, ceasing only for the joints. When it rose on all eight of its legs, the bottom of the abdomen could be seen, marked with a large, red, hour glass shaped mark. It was a giant spider, and it looked hungry.

Thatch grasped the wall as the beast charged through the doorway and crashed into the ground. "I didn't think spiders could move that fast..." he said, in between panting. "What is that thing?"

"If I'm correct, it's a Goliath Widow." Francois replied "Don't let it bite you, if the impalement doesn't kill you, the venom will."

Lark looked across the room. "I think I see the other initiates down there."

Thrush looked where he was pointing and nodded. "That's them alright, looks like they need help."

"I never would have guessed," replied a sarcastic Thatch "You know, with the bats and the bears and now our big friend down there."

"This is not the time." Francois interjected "Kill the Grimm now, and we'll argue later."

"Agreed," said Thatch "Lark, you and I will head down and help them out, Noble Boy, you and Thrush stay up here and take pot shots."

"What am I doing here?" demanded Thrush.

Before the Renegade could answer he was forced to duck to avoid an incoming Draculing. "If any of them get too close, shoot 'em down." He replied.

With that, Thatch and Lark leapt down from the ledge, landing atop the Widow as Francois and Lark began to shoot down the Draculings.

Thatch drove both his swords through the head of the Goliath, but all he got in return was a roar and a bucking that threatened to toss him and Lark off as the beast began to rampage through the chamber. "Come on you big ugly bugger!" said Thatch as he used his swords to try and steer the monster and Lark blasted anything that got too close.

The Goliath charged, smashing through the Ursae and just missing the other hunters as they leapt out of the way. Maria looked at the path of destruction being carved by Thatch and muttered "Why couldn't he have found us?"

She never got her answer, as the remaining Ursae resumed their charge. Alison met them with a blast of dust, felling one of the beasts as another charged only for her to smack it with the claw end of her weapon, sending it right to the ground.

Meanwhile, Maria bashed an incoming Draculing with her shield before running it through on her sword and blasting another one with a stream of lead, ducking down behind her shield as an Ursa swiped at her with a claw, a strike that was deflected off the shield's surface. She soon ended the offender with a sword to the eye socket, shoving the creature off her blade with a mighty kick.

Cardin saw two of the Draculings approaching him from different angles. He knew he wasn't Alison with her crazy accuracy, but what kind of man would he be if he didn't try this? Waiting for one of the beasts to get close to him, the knight stepped out of the way and with a swing of his mighty mace sent it flying right into the other, the second one careening into the ground where Dove casually impaled it with his halberd.

Cardin smirked before he noticed something. "Look out!" he cried as another Draculing approached Dove from behind. Time seemed to slow as Dove spun around, but he wasn't moving quick enough to stop the creature before its glinting fangs met his neck. Dove shut his eyes as he made a last ditch thrust with his halberd. He needn't have bothered. When the creature was nearly upon him, a loud 'BANG' was heard and it fell to the ground, a hole in its head.

Cardin and dove turned to the hill to see Fancois give them a wave before returning to shooting the bats.

Meanwhile, Thatch was having a less than pleasant time on the Goliath, as the creature began to reject his commands more and more. He watched as Lark blasted the last of the Ursae before the other boy was flung off by a particularly powerful buck of the creature.

Lark landed next to Cardin and Dove, Dove keeping the Grimm away while Cardin helped the other boy to his feet.

Thatch held on for dear life as the creature did everything it could to throw him off. It finally succeeded with one last buck, throwing its pesky rider off and freeing the swords from its head.

Thatch curled into a ball, rolling as he landed on the ground next to Maria and Alison. The Centurion offered him a hand, something the renegade gladly accepted as she helped him to his feet.

He shook his head to clear it as he looked around the chamber. The Draculings were still flying around the shadows in great numbers, and the Widow was beginning to advance on them. "This is even worse than the last Draculing room..." Thatch muttered.

Maria, however, overheard it. "What do you mean the last one? What happened then?"

Thatch explained how he and the others were attacked by the flying Grimm and their strategy that managed to beat them. Maria took in all the details, memorizing everything she could. If she could just get the image in her head, she just might be able to make use of her semblance after all...

Meanwhile, Cardin, Dove and Lark were in a bit of a bad situation. They had gotten Lark back on his feet, but the Widow was now advancing on them. They began to attack it with shotgun shells, dust blasts and even fire bolts from Cardin's mace, but nothing seemed to deter the creature as it approached them.

That said, the beast was beginning to get annoyed. It stopped where it was and spat a stream of webbing that entangled the three hunters. They screamed as they tried to break free of the webs, but they could barely move.

It began to approach again, venom dripping from its fangs onto the floor where it sizzled and hissed. Several shots from a heavier weapon hit its carapace, but they either bounced off or embedded themselves in the armour to no effect. The beast was nearly at its prey when something happened that enraged it.

A stream of bullets hit the underside of its abdomen and a voice called out "Hey bugger! Remember me?"

It turned around to see a being that had caused him such pain before. It was that boy who drove blades into its head. It cast a look back to the trapped boys. They weren't going anywhere. They could wait. This one needed to die. The beast lumbered after its new prey.

Thatch ran for his life. He knew none of his weapons would have any significant effect on the creature, and if he was caught in that webbing he was done for. He rounded a corner and immediately ducked as several bright yellow dust blasts were fired over his head and into the eyes of the Goliath. It roared in pain as it was blinded by the blasts. Thatch smiled at Alison as she acted exactly as planned by Maria. She smiled back, but there wasn't time enough for too much of it as the beast could still smell them and there was still work to be done.

Slowed by the loss of its sight, the widow crept along the cave floor, smelling for any sign of its prey. That was when it felt it, a stream of bullets impacting one of its legs. It turned to where the blast had come from only to feel a great pain as a blade cut right through one of its legs, sending it to the ground. The beast spat venom where the leg used to be, but whatever caused it such pain was gone.

Then another leg was lost, a blast of fire severing it right at the joint between leg and body. Alison Zu grinned to herself as her precision paid off. The plan was coming together perfectly.

Thatch ran up behind her as the beast stumbled, trying to regain its footing with two of its legs missing. He gestured away, and she knew he was ready for the next stage.

Francois Delatrois meanwhile surveyed the battlefield through his carbine. His fire had been focused primarily on any Grimm attacking the now immobile Cardin Dove and Lark, but he couldn't help but let his eyesight stray from that to watch as Alison and Thatch severed the legs of the Goliath Widow.

'_What is he up to?' _the nobleman wondered. That was when he felt his skin crawl in a familiar way. "Oh _merde..." _he muttered as he turned to Thrush. "I know what he's doing." He said before returning to fire on the Draculings getting near Cardin and company. His eyes began to glow gold as he opened fire.

Back on the ground, Alison and Thatch returned to where Maria waited for them. The centurion looked to the other hunters quizzically. They both nodded in response. She then spoke a simple command: "Do it."

Thatch nodded and turned to Alison. "Ready when you are."

The Oriental girl nodded in response and Thatch closed his eyes, re opening them glowing red. He let out a sinister chuckle that chilled Maria and Alison to the bone and revealed slowly growing fangs in his mouth. The shadows in the fringes of the room began to seem darker as the light from the crystal seemed to dim. The darkness brought with it an eerie chill as Thatch just continued the let out that low laugh. That was when a palpable pulse came from the renegade, spreading through the room, sending chills up the spines of the hunters.

That was when the screams began as the Draculings circling in the shadows let out a collective screech and flew as fast as they could toward the Goliath, surrounding it and flying around it. The beast could barely move without hitting one, causing it pain with each movement.

Maria turned to Alison and barked another command to the smaller girl: "Now!"

Alison nodded and raised her Zhua claw, glowing and fired a powerful blast of energy at the ceiling above the creatures and the stalactites thereupon, causing the section to fall, landing directly on the Widow and the Draculings and flattening the Grimm with that one blast.

Above the battlefield, Francois and Thrush stood ready to run should the cave being to collapse like the last time. Not another rock fell or even shifted. He smiled. "_Quelle Surprise, _it actually worked." Said Francois, genuinely impressed.

oxoxoxo

The hunters met up at the shrine beneath the crystal, Alison holding up Thatch as he had exerted his energy using his semblance so much.

They arrived at the shrine and looked aver its design. It was the only thing in the chamber to not in some way be damaged by the battle. The crystal was still suspended over it, and the arching structure may have been old and somewhat decrepit looking, it was still standing and looked as though it would continue to stand for years after they left. Lining the base of the shrine were several pedestals each one holding "Chess pieces?" demanded Maria "We risked our necks for chess pieces?"

"Normally I'd be right with you on the outrage," said Thatch "but right now I'm just way too tired to care."

Francois walked up to a pedestal and picked up the piece thereupon, a black piece resembling a horse. "I've seen enough of this cavern to last a lifetime. If this is what it takes to go back to Beacon for a hot meal and a shower, I'll take it."

Thatch muttered something about pampering before letting out what seemed to be a combination yawn and chuckle. Cardin and Thrush followed the nobleman's advice and took their pieces, both taking the same black painted piece.

Maria grumbled something about stupid tests before giving in and taking a piece for herself. "Let's get out of here." She said "After all," she grinned "Francois' hot meal is waiting."

oxoxoxo

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Said Ozpin as the four boys recently returned from their initiation stepped up to the stage. The headmaster and Professor Goodwitch stood on the stage as did Marlow and Fantine. Ozpin continued his speech "The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces, from this day forward you will be known as 'Team Cardinal,' led by Cardin Winchester." The crowd cheered as the boys' faces appeared on the big screen with the letters CDRL appearing below them.

The four boys nodded and left the stage as the next team rose. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Norah Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces, from this day forward you will work together as 'Team Juniper.'" Norah jumped up to hug Ren as she heard this. "Led by," Ozpin continued "Jaune Arc!" The crowd cheered and Pyrrha gave Jaune a congratulatory punch in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground as he yelped in surprise. Ozpin smiled "Congratulations young man."

While Ozpin may have been smiling and congratulating Jaune, across the stage, Professor Marlow took a sudden interest in his shoes as the letters JNPR appeared below their pictures.

This didn't escape the notice of Jaune, who made a note to ask the professor what was his problem later.

He didn't have time at the moment as the next team was called up to the stage by Ozpin. "Alison Zhu, Thatch Edwards, Francois Delatrois, Maria Gaia," Ozpin began "The four of you collected the Black Knight pieces, so from this day forward you will be known as 'Team Emerald,' led by Maria Gaia." Maria did not cheer at this, merely casting a glance to her bronze clad rival and her team.

Not noticed by her was how a black clad professor took notice of her team as the letters EMAD appeared below pictures of them.

"And finally," continued the headmaster "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long, the four of you retrieved the White Knight pices. From this day forward you will be known as 'Team Ruby," led by Ruby Rose!" Weiss gasped and Yang flying hug tackled her sister as the letters RWBY appeared below their names.

Ozpin gave the newly formed teams a small smile. They were in for a long four years, but at least they would have each other.

oxoxoxo

**And there's another chapter.**

**Teams are formed, bet nobody saw that coming, and the year is about to begin. What will happen to our heroes? You'll have to wait for the next chapter for that.**

**Either way, I hope you liked this one, and as always please leave a review. I want to know if you liked it, and if not what you think could have been changed.**


	10. Classes Begin

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 6**

**Author's Note: In case you didn't see it already, I changed Maria, Francois, Thatch and Alison's team name to Emerald (EMAD). It sounded better in my opinion.**

**Also, My fellow writer Undaed15 brought to my attention that my characters need music to go along with them, so the next time they get major action scenes, I'll throw in a bit of music to go with it, maybe post the soundtrack on my profile. Needless to say, I own none of the songs I use.**

oxoxoxo

The red coat of Curtis Marlow trailed behind him as he walked away from the assembly hall. He couldn't bear to be there for another moment. Not with _him._ Not after what he had done to the boy... Ozpin might disapprove, but he had long since stopped caring about what that man thought. After what had happened long ago, and what the headmaster had nearly made him do this day, coming to care for the headmaster at all would be difficult.

Right now, he just wanted to be gone. He wanted to retire to his chambers for the night and maybe stay there for a week, claiming to be sick.

"Mr. Marlow?"

That voice hurled him out of his thoughts. He turned to see the very reason for his troubled state standing before him. His blonde hair cascading over his head and white armour managing to gleam in the dim light, Jaune Arc stood before him, curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes, mister Arc?" Marlow replied, looking anywhere but back to Jaune's eyes.

"What's your problem with me?" Jaune demanded, raising his voice slightly.

"What do you mean?" Marlow replied, looking for any escape he could find.

"I feel like I've met you before," Jaune began "and that should be a good thing, but you won't even look me in the eye. In fact, when my team stepped up to the stage, you looked to the floor. If I'm going to be your student for the next four years, I want to know what your problem with me is."

Marlow let out a deep sigh as the student interrogated him before he gave a sigh. "Mister Arc, it's been a long day for both of us. You've done your test and I've been doing a lot of work for my classes this year. I don't have time to tell you stories or give you explanations of my behaviour today."

The professor took off walking down the corridor, but Jaune was not going to give up so easily. "Professor! At least tell me if you do have a problem with me!"

Marlow stopped just in front of the door to his office and chambers. The professor let out a heavy sigh but didn't turn as he spoke to the boy. "You were right about one thing Jaune. I do know you."

With that, the professor closed his door. Jaune could only think of more questions to ask as he heard the deadbolt on the door lock in place. He was about to leave when he felt a cold wind blow down the hall, sending chills up his spine and making him look desperately for the nearest exit. He looked around as the shadows in the room seemed to deepen, and the room grew colder and less welcoming as the lights dimmed and took on a bluish tinge.

He turned to walk away when a shadow flashed across his field of view, sending him stumbling back as he shivered.

"A word of advice:" said an eerily familiar voice, tinged with an unholy edge as if two other voices were speaking with him, one deeper and the other speaking in a hiss. "Let this man go, boy. It won't end well for you or for him. Leave him alone. If you don't, I'll know."

With those final words, the hall seemed to return to normal, the lights brightening, the shadows receding, and the temperature returning to normal. Jaune had no idea what had just happened, but he was not about to question his seemingly good fortune. As soon as he regained feeling in his legs, he ran as fast as he could, stopping only when he reached his room.

As he left, a pair of eyes watched him, the glow from one blue eye fading.

Jaune burst through the door and shut it behind him, an action that confused his new teammates.

"Jaune?" said Pyrrha "Is something wrong?"

Jaune didn't speak for a moment, simply running through the events of the past few minutes in his head. How could he tell that to his team? How did Professor Marlow know him? Who or what was it that spoke to him? That was the question that weighted heaviest on him. But now wasn't the time to think about that, his team was looking at him and he was only making it worse by staying silent.

"Jaune?" Lie Ren said, leaning closer "What's going on?" the martial artist asked, his constant companion Nora looking meaningfully over his shoulder at the knight.

Jaune hesitated for a moment before giving a short laugh and coming up with an excuse for his actions. "Oh, it's nothing you guys."

"Is sure seemed like something." Pyrrha replied.

"Well," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck. After the voice in the hall, he was in no hurry to tell his team about Marlow. "I had to go to the bathroom, and on my way back to the room I sort of took a wrong turn and ran into a couple who were, well, 'celebrating' their success in the initiation..."

Ren took a small step back, seeming to understand what he meant, but Nora only leaned further forward. "What do you mean 'celebrating?' Is there a party? We should totally go to the party!"

"Nora." The peppy girl turned to her stoic companion. "That's not the type of celebrating that Jaune was talking about."

"Well, what did he mean?"

Ren opened his mouth to say something, but closed it shortly after. "It's... complicated..." he tried.

It failed. "What do you mean by complicated? Come on, tell me. I can understand it."

Jaune sighed in relief internally. Crisis averted.

Had he looked to his remaining teammate before walking to his bunk, he would have seen two worried green eyes following his movement wondering just what was wrong with their new leader.

oxoxoxo

The next day, classes began.

And team RWBY was late.

And team JNPR stumbled in right behind them.

Maria Gaia watched from her seat as her rival and her team arrived, charging right into the room, hoping that the professor would let them in.

They needn't have been worried though, as their instructor, Professor Port, was in the middle of one of his many tales of his youth as he traveled the kingdoms performing feats of courage as he slaughtered Grimm by the hundreds and saved fair maidens from peril. Maria had no trouble believing that at one point the man before them had been a great warrior, but if he couldn't notice the two teams running in late and the currently sleeping Thatch Edwards with his feet up on his desk and his tricorne hat over his eyes, then she doubted he could throw his axe with the accuracy necessary to behead a Nevermore...

Because of this, Maria was barely paying attention to his story, instead worrying about how to maximize the efficiency of her team. She had already asserted her command just this morning when she brought the lot of them out of bed. There had been groans from Francois, grumbles from Thatch and yawns from Alison, but she had managed to get them up and bring them all to class early enough to get good seats. So for class she was covered, but what about combat? None of her teammates had anything in common with regards to combat styles, so fighting as a cohesive unit would be difficult.

Reviewing her teammates' skills in her head, she began to think about each one as a single fighter, with their strengths and weaknesses contributing to what she would do with them in combat. First off was Francois. The boy was definitely proficient with his rifle, and from what Thatch had told her he was a decent swordsman as well. She would likely have him use his semblance to motivate the team before having him cover them from afar.

Then there was Thatch. The renegade was another good swordsman, and with the addition of guns to his blades he had become a very useful medium to close range fighter. Add to that, his semblance which could save them all from any difficult situations by terrifying the enemy. She could have him break the enemy morale before either engaging them or protecting Francois.

Now what to do with Alison? The girl's accuracy could be put to use in a number of situations. She could breach armour at close range and at long range her dust blasts could be rather useful. The girl was versatile and she could use her in any way she wanted to at just about any range. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a jab to the ribs from the quiet girl as she pointed to the front of the room where Professor Port had brought in a large cage, a pair of glowing red eyes glaring out of it.

The centurion turned to the old hunter who was finishing his speech. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Almost instantly, and simultaneously, Francois and Thatch raised their hands. As one, they turned to glare at each other. Maria was ready to end a fight if it erupted, but in the end, Port chose one of the girls he had been staring at earlier in the class: Weiss Schnee. The heiress stood up from her seat and marched, head held high to a side room where she changed into her combat skirt and coat, stepping out, _Myrtenaster_ already drawn as she approached the cage.

Port stood next to the cage as Weiss' team cheered her on.

"Go Weiss!" cried Yang.

"Fight well." added Blake, waving a small 'RWBY' flag.

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" her team leader yelled out. Ruby had been looking forward to this ever since Weiss volunteered. She loved watching the heiress use her considerable skill to make art with her weapon.

Unfortunately, what Weiss said next shot the cheery leader right back down to earth. "Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh. Sorry..." Ruby muttered.

The class had moved down to the front rows to watch the action. Pyrrha deciding to take a seat next to Jaune, deciding to maybe give her leader some pointers on swordplay from the fight. "Hoping to gain her favour by cheering?" she asked, Jaune looking over as she said it.

"Wha?" Jaune responded "No, no, I just wanted a better view."

"A likely story." said a third voice. One Pyrrha knew all too well. She turned to her other side to see Maria Gaia taking that seat. "Tell me," she said "You've seen Snow White there fighting, is she any good?"

"Weiss?"said Pyrrha "She's a good fighter, if a little..."

"A little what?"

"Um..."

"Well?"

Pyrrha was about to answer when the fight began. Port smashed the lock on the cage with his axe and out of it charged a Boarbatusk, a large, piglike Grimm with two long, sharp tusks.

The beast charged, but Weiss dodged out of the way and delivered a slash with her sword, glancing right off the creature's armour.

Ruby continued to cheer as Weiss and the Boarbatusk charged each other again, Weiss going for the eyes with a thrust. Her strike connected, but only with the armour, glancing off and getting her blade tangled in the Grimm's tusks. Both struggled for control as Ruby continued to encourage her partner. Weiss turned to glare at her, but in her distraction, her sword was torn from her grasp and hurled across the room.

"Ho ho!" said Professor Port "Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss' eyes widened as the creature charged her again, only just missing her as she rolled out of the way and charged for her blade, catching it in a slide.

"Weiss!" cried Ruby "Go for its belly! There's no armour underneath!"

Weiss turned to her leader, a cold fury in her bright blue eyes. "Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby's face fell quicker than Jaune in the initiation, but Weiss didn't even pay attention to that, turning her attention back to the Grimm as it rolled into a ball and charged again, rolling at her with the speed of a buzz saw. Quickly, Weiss created a pair of glyphs, one in front of her and one behind, the first one stopping the Grimm and hurling it onto its back and the second being used as a spring board as Weiss leapt at the creature, sword pointed, driving the blade into its chest as the beast stopped moving.

As Port congratulated Weiss, Maria turned back to Pyrrha. "She is good, but she's also too proud. It'll get her in trouble one day." Maria said no more as Port dismissed the class and she got up to leave. At the front of the class, Weiss stalked off, abandoning her team as they all stared after her. Ruby got up to follow her partner, but it seemed things wouldn't end well between the two.

"Sheesh," muttered Jaune, catching Pyrrha's attention "what's wrong with her?"

Pyrrha sighed. She didn't know which her Jaune referred to.

Now wasn't the time for questions though, as they had another class in only a few minutes.

oxoxoxo

Teams EMAD JNPR and RWBY – minus Weiss – walked into their next class: single combat with Professor Goodwitch.

"Class," Goodwitch began "The duty of a huntsman or huntress is to safeguard humanity, and while the creatures of Grimm are a great threat to the safety of the world, they are not the only one. Some of your opponents will be human or faunus, and the goal of this class will be to prepare you for those enemies."

As Goodwitch began to give her lecture, Yang looked over to her sister. Apparently, she and Weiss had gotten into an argument after class. Words were said, some dug deeper than others, and Ruby had barely spoken since.

The red hooded girl was barely paying attention to the lecture, her eyes flitting every so often between the professor and the door, hoping her white haired partner would walk in. Hoping...

At that moment, her prayers were seemingly answered as Weiss walked in, eyes focused on the floor. Ruby instantly brightened.

"Miss Schnee," said Goodwitch, turning to face her tardy student. "So good of you to join us."

"Sorry professor," Weiss apologized "I had to talk to Professor Port after the last class." She thought back to everything he had said. Everything about her, her team and especially her leader... After that, she needed time to think, and she needed some space.

"I see." Goodwitch replied "Well, take a seat, class has already begun."

Weiss nodded, taking a seat at the very back of the room. Ruby cautioned a glance back to her partner. Weiss looked back to her, the fury of earlier replaced with... was that sadness? It couldn't be. At the very least it looked like her expression had softened somewhat.

Ruby didn't have time to think on it as Goodwitch began to speak again. "Today I'll be testing you in randomly selected pairs for single combat." She walked over to her podium at the front of the class and pressed a button. Suddenly, the front of the class began to shift and change, the podium moving off to the side and a portion of the room rising to form a stage of some kind. The front wall then opened to reveal two large screens each having a box and a bar one on each side of the stage. "Two of you will be selected at random from the lot of you." Goodwitch continued "If you see your face in one of these screens, you will be fighting. The rules are simple: combat will last until one party's aura enters the red zone, indicating that in a tournament style battle they would be considered unfit to continue. Any questions?" Jaune raised his hand. "Good, let's pick the combatants."

The two screens began to flash, shuffling between the many faces of the students in the class. The first screen suddenly stopped, the image shown being a familiar looking girl with a long, blonde mane and purple eyes.

Blake Belladonna turned to her partner, the two of them sharing a smile as Yang got up and walked to a side room to change into her combat gear.

Thatch turned to Francois. "I pity the poor sod who has to fight her." He muttered.

Francois turned to the front of the class and suddenly burst into laughter. Thatch turned t see what was so funny, but immediately wished he hadn't. As if in response to his words from before, he second screen had stopped moving, and staring back at him on it was his own visage.

Looking to his team, he saw they were all enjoying this. Alison hid a quiet giggle behind her hand, Francois was now pounding the desk in laughter and even Maria had a smile on her face that threatened to turn into laughter. The swordsman rose from his seat and walked off to go change. "It's not that funny!" he yelled back at his teammates.

In a few minutes time, both combatants stood on the stage in full combat gear. With a flick of her wrist, Yang activated _Ember Celica_, the yellow gauntlets rising to cover her forearms and barrels emerging. "Do you want to just give up now?" she asked.

On the other side of the stage, Thatch drew _Anne_ and _Elizabeth_, the twin swords glinting in the spotlights as he got into a fighting stance. He gave his opponent one of his famous smirks. "Hey, just because you beat me at signal doesn't mean you'll have it so easy here."

"I guess we'll just have to find out," Yang said, giving a few practice swings before getting into her stance "won't we?"

"I guess we will." Thatch answered, turning off the safeties on his swords.

"Ready," called Goodwitch "And... Go!"


	11. Classes Begin II

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 7**

**As said in the last chapter, I'll be trying to include music to match the characters or tone of action scenes now, and since this chapter opens with one, this would be the perfect time to test it out. All these songs are likely easy to find on YouTube or some other internet song-listening source so if you can, try it out.**

oxoxoxo

Erik Fantine wandered the halls of Beacon Accademy. His class had ended some time ago, and he had nothing to keep him occupied and entertained for the next few hours until he had to teach dramatic arts to his next class. Thus, the quiet professor had taken to walking the halls, perhaps seeking something to catch his attention.

It wasn't too long before he stumbled across the classroom of professor Glynda Goodwitch. _Ah, perfect. _He thought _Combat class is always entertaining._

Fantine pushed open the door and took a seat in the back of the class. He looked to the front to meet Goodwitch's eyes to notify her that he was there, she merely nodded, knowing that the phantom would likely keep to himself. The black cloaked professor then looked up to the screens to see who would be fighting. He smirked to himself when he saw who was first. He had seen Thatch Edwards perform in the caves during his initiation, and the other one, Yang Xiao Long was well known at Beacon for her record in combat.

Smiling to himself, he watched the two of them exchange taunts before Goodwitch called for the match to begin. _Oh, this should be good... _

oxoxoxo

Down at the front of the class, students watched as the fight began.

**(Author's note: here's where music begins. Song: Beneath the Black Flag by Miracle of Sound.)**

Thatch struck first, spraying fire from his guns at his blonde opponent, but Yang ducked under the bullets and charged him, that crazy smile on her face, swinging her gauntleted fists and firing at the renegade who was forced to go onto the defensive as he ducked and dodged around her attacks before trying to make some of his own.

Leaping out of the way of a vicious uppercut, Thatch began to attack with his blades, swinging _Anne _and _Elizabeth _in a flurry of motion, the blades flying through the air at high speeds as Yang began to defend, dodging or blocking with her gauntlets, eventually knocking a strike away and punching Thatch in the stomach, knocking him on his back as she resumed the attack, leaping into the air for a downward smash.

Unfortunately for her, Thatch rolled right out of the way and came back with a slash of his swords, an attack that Yang flipped out of the way of. But this was exactly what Thatch wanted as he smirked, raising his blades and opening fire, forcing Yang to worry more about being riddled with bullets than attacking him as she was forced to dodge the spray of fire.

That was when Thatch's guns clicked empty, a lovely sound that Yang was waiting for. She stood her ground and began to fire back at Thatch as he abandoned the empty clips and tried to dodge out of the way. Having her opponent on the defensive again, Yang charged ahead, hoping to finish him quickly.

Big mistake. Thatch stepped out of the way of her first punch and snarled at her as he began to attack again. Yang raised her arms to block on her gauntlets, but Thatch's strikes knocked her arms aside as he continued to growl at her, the sounds growing more animalistic with each strike.

Yang was starting to worry. _When did he get this strong? I was able to block his strikes before! What's going on? I'm supposed to be stronger than him! I know it! I know him! _She was beginning to panic as fear began to set in. That's when she realized what was going on. _Someone stronger than me? That can't happen! That's my biggest fear! Wait a minute..._

Thatch grinned as his eyes continued to glow and his attacks continued. With a mental push he could scare a whole room, but with only one target, he could focus on _their _fear, in this case, making Yang _believe_ someone could overpower her with ease. He smiled a fanged smirk and continued his onslaught, Yang's crazed grin having become a confused and terrified gape.

That is, until his blade was knocked aside by Yang's gauntlet.

**(New Music: I Burn by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams)**

That was when Thatch knew he was in trouble again. Having not taken advantage of Yang's distraction to reload and being unprepared for her to break through the illusion, he wasn't ready for when she renewed her attack, forcing him back onto the defensive as he dodged and ducked around her punches and shots, occasionally throwing in his own as Yang powered on, her wide smile returning as Thatch barely dodged her attacks.

He leapt back and started to attack again, throwing slashes at Yang as she began to block his strikes and deal punches of her own, a few nearly connecting, Yang beginning to glow all the while.

Thatch began to feel the heat as Yang grew even hotter (and not in a way he would enjoy), her attacks increasing in intensity and ferocity as her eyes changed colour from purple to red, the grin on her face ever present as she continued to fire and punch at him. Thatch tried to retaliate, but his attacks were always blocked or dodged as Yang continued to attack, her form beginning to smoke as well as glow and her hair seeming to get brighter.

The battle soon reached its turning point as Yang's gauntlets clicked empty. As soon as Thatch heard that wonderful click, he renewed his assault, determined to win this before Yang could get time to reload. But Yang was not going to make it easy as she dodged and blocked all his strikes as he charged, even delivering a few of her own.

Summoning as much of his strength as he could, Thatch swung both of his swords in a spinning attack at Yang, but the brawler leapt back and when he stopped she attacked with a punch that sent the swordsman reeling back.

Thatch got back into his fighting stance and turned to Yang, who had done the same. Both were visibly tired, both panting as they contemplated their next attack. One way or another, the battle would end.

That was when Thatch noticed something that sealed his fate. Apparently in his last attack he had managed to hit Yang...

Ruby saw what happened right before Thatch did. She put her head in her hands and mumbled "Now he's done it." Her muttering got Blake's attention, but not for long as both huntresses turned back to the fight.

Yang noticed it at the same time he did, and did exactly what he feared she would. Slamming her gauntleted fists together, Yang became a raging inferno, fire swirling around her, her mane flying in the flames. Thatch had to cover his eyes with an arm from the light and heat, but when they subsided slightly and he opened them he wished he hadn't.

Yang was right in front of him, and in one punch she sent the renegade flying into the classroom wall.

"STOP!"

Both students turned to professor Goodwitch as she was the one who had spoken. "If you'll both look at the screens, you'll see that Mister Edwards' aura has entered the red. According to tournament rules, he is no longer fit for battle. So Miss Xiao Long is the winner." Yang smiled wide and returned to her team, walking past a single strand of blonde hair as she left the stage.

Professor Fantine clapped from his seat in the back of the room, his applause mixing with that of the students so no one realized he was there.

As the students began to chat with the fighters, team RWBY coming to congratulate Yang and team EMAD retrieving their last member, someone spoke up from behind him. "Quite the battle, was it not?"

Erik didn't even need to turn around to know it was his red coated colleague behind him. "Your class ended too Marlow?"

"Yes, and you too thought watching single combat class would be a good way to have a bit of fun before the next one?"

"You noticed." Fantine said, mocking surprise "I thought you'd be too busy staring at your own naval after hearing that Arc boy is here."

"It seems someone is more upset about him being here than I am." Said Marlow, taking a seat next to Fantine.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Fantine, turning his masked face back to the stage as the screens began to flicker, deciding the next combatants.

Marlow's gaze never left Fantine as he spoke. "I know what you did Erik. When he followed me you followed him right outside my office."

"And?"

"And you sent him running terrified away! Who knows what that might have done to the poor boy!" Marlow harshly whispered, not wanting other students to hear them.

"You didn't even want the boy to be here, what do you care?" demanded Fantine, eyes still focused on the screens, one of which had stopped. "And besides, I made sure he won't trouble you now." The second screen stopped slashing and Fantine smirked.

"Why the smile?" inquired Marlow.

"You might want to see who's fighting." Fantine said, his eyes still glued to the front of the class.

Marlow turned and grimaced. Jaune would be fighting, and his opponent was the brutish Cardin Winchester.

oxoxoxo

Down at the front of the class, Maria had her teammates move thatch over to his seat. Yang followed them, occasionally delivering a sheepish apology. Maybe she had gotten a little carried away...

Maria, on the other hand, walked off to watch the next fight, picking a seat right next to her rival once again. "Looks like your team leader fights now." She said.

Pyrrha turned to her, that rare, nervous look still in her eye. "Yes, I noticed."

Maria looked between Jaune and Cardin. Jaune looked like he barely knew how to hold his sword, while she knew that Cardin was a fearsome fighter _if a tad excruciating _with his mace. "He's already lost."

"What?" demanded Pyrrha, turning to her rival with an angered look.

"He's already lost. By the look of the boy he barely knows how to fight. And I've seen what Cardin can do. The guy is annoying, but he knows how to fight."

"Jaune can fight!" Pyrrha countered "In the Emerald Forest he led our team against a Deathstalker and we won."

"What did he do?"

"Huh?" What did he do against the beast?"

Pyrrha thought back to the fight with the Deathstalker. Jaune had directed the whole fight, leading the team to victory over the beast as he used the resources he had to help them kill it. That's when she realized. _Jaune didn't do anything himself..._

Before she could say anything else, the battle began, and Cardin and Jaune charged each other.

As Maria predicted though, Jaune was quickly batted aside by a swing of Cardin's mace. He managed to catch the blow on his shield, but was still knocked away by the strike. Cardin moved in to attack again, but as he swung down at Jaune, the knight rolled out of the way and rose to his feet. He was barely even up when he stumbled trying to dodge another swing of Cardin's mace and nearly fell again.

Marlow watched from the top of the class. _This can't be right. _He thought _Something's wrong here, that's not how-_

"This is a surprise." Fantine said, interrupting his thoughts "From all you said before, I really expected more."

Marlow didn't respond, merely watching as Cardin beat on Jaune, and Jaune tried to fight back only to fail.

Down at the arena, Jaune blocked another strike on his shield, this time managing to stand his ground as he was hit, but still stumbling back at the powerful blow.

He stepped back as Cardin hefted his mace, smirking cruelly as he held it over his shoulder.

Jaune panted as a leaned on his sword for support. The battle had barely begun, and he was already taking a beating. Summoning his strength, he charged again, shield out and sword raised, ready to cleave Cardin in two.

Unfortunately for him, this is what Cardin was waiting for. The black knight swung his mace and batted Jaune aside, the knight rolling across the ground and losing his shield in the process. Determined to win this somehow, Jaune got to his feet and clutched his sword in both hands. Anger clouding his eyes, he only saw red, and Cardin's laughing, taunting form in the middle of all of it.

Narrowing his eyes and clutching his sword so tight his knuckles burned white, Jaune let out a war cry and charged, raising his sword to cut Cardin down, but the black knight blocked the attack on the shaft of his mace. Jaune pushed with all his might, but Cardin was just that much stronger and pushed him back. "This is the part where you lose." he sneered.

Jaune glared back. "Over my dead bo-" he never finished his thought as Cardin kicked him directly in his family jewels, the brute's strength sending him to the ground. Cardin raised his mace to finish Jaune off, but that was when Goodwitch called for the end of the match.

Fantine watched from the upper levels, shaking his head in dismay. "That was disappointing. I expected better."

Marlow didn't reply, but the phantom could see he was angry. His jaw was set and his eyes narrowed.

"Maybe greatness isn't genetic." Fantine continued, "Maybe,"

"Stop." Marlow muttered as he continued to watch the stage. Goodwitch was now lecturing Jaune about the fight. He could hear what she was saying, and nearly all of it could be taken as derogatory. While Curtis himself couldn't meet the boy's eyes, he could at least speak to him as a student with respect. Glynda seemed to be implying that Jaune should simply drop the class now.

Fantine turned to his colleague at the outburst. "I'm sorry, did that offend you."

Marlow only gave a low growl in response and turned to the front of the class.

Back at the front row of the class, Maria merely shook her head. "I told you. Winchester might be a brute, but he's a brute that can fight."

Pyrrha said nothing as her rival continued. "Your leader never should have gotten out of bed this morning."

Pyrrha ignored her and went up with Ren and Nora to get Jaune off the stage.

Ren offered Jaune a hand up, and the knight accepted, standing up with a heavy sigh. "You'll get him next time." The martial artist said, patting his leader on the back with a small smile.

Jaune returned it, but only for a second, after which he was unable to meet the eyes of any of his teammates. As they helped him off the stage.

Meanwhile, Weiss was watching the screens again. While she had zoned out during Jaunes attempt to fight, Yang's match against the criminal had actually interested her, and while she couldn't look Ruby in the eye after what happened with Professor Port, she could still appreciate her other teammates.

Ruby... how could she face the hyperactive girl after what she had said? It wasn't even as though what she said was that bad, she had said far worse in her time, but for some reason, maybe the talk with port, she felt something in the pit of her stomach that just wouldn't go away...

Looking up to the board, Weiss hoped she could distract herself from her confusion with another match, but looking up to the screens did nothing to help her, as the first screen had been filled.

Staring down at her from the screen was a smiling girl with red and black hair and silver eyes. Her team leader would be fighting next.

oxoxoxo

Team EMAD, minus their leader, had watched the fight between Cardin and Jaune with something akin to pity. Having never seen Jaune in action before, they had hoped he would put Cardin in his place, but were sorely disappointed when the knight was defeated with ease.

Alison looked at the stage with confusion. She had read about the Arcs, and she knew that they were a line of great heroes. _How did this one fare so badly? _She wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a groan from her defeated teammate behind her.

"You took quite a beating." She said.

Thatch rubbed his head. "I have to remember not to touch the hair..." he muttered.

Alison let out a little giggle at that. "You did well otherwise though, you almost had her."

The renegade smiled at the quiet artist. "I'm not surprised she beat me here, she's been this tough since our days at Signal."

Alison's smile faltered slightly. "You knew her before?"

Thatch leaned back in his seat. "We used to go to the same school before coming here. Yang and I met one day when I tried to cut all my classes. She wondered what I was doing outside and so I answered. She didn't like how I answered apparently, and so she told me that if she didn't see me in class the next day I was in trouble." He smiled wider for just a moment. "Then to prove how serious she was, she punched right through a locker."

"So you two became friends over that?" Alison asked.

"Well, no. You see, me being stupid, I didn't like what she said and so I left the next day. But when I tried to walk out of the school, she caught me, punched me in the stomach and dragged me off to class. What started out there as anger turned into a grudging respect and later a friendship."

"She beat you up and you respected her for it?"

"Sort of," Thatch explained "it turns out that I was dangerously low on attendance, and if she hadn't gotten me back into classes, they would have expelled me for sure. After that, I respected her, and not too long after that we became friends."

Alison looked down slightly and turned back to the screens. Thatch was about to ask what was wrong, but then something caught his eye.

The two screens had stopped changing, and there were now two faces staring back at them. First was Ruby Rose, Yang's sister, and the second was an oriental girl with black hair and green eyes, a single streak of her hair matching those eyes. Alison was up next.


	12. Classes Begin III

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 8**

oxoxoxo

Thatch gave Alison a pat on the shoulder as she walked down to the arena where Ruby gave her a smile. "Good luck."

The artist just smiled in response as she pounded the ball end of _Pianji _on the floor of the stage, causing the clawed hand of the weapon to emerge. On the other side of the stage, Ruby followed her example, _Crescent Rose _emerging in all her glory.

The fight still had yet to start. As such, Ruby cast a quick glance to her white haired partner, and to her surprise, Weiss was actually looking up at the stage, a look of interest on her face.

Of course, then she noticed that Ruby was looking at her, and quickly hid her face, looking in any direction but at her.

Ruby was shocked at this. She knew Weiss never thought she was the greatest person ever, but she thought the heiress would at least watch her fight, maybe prove why she deserved to be here. But no, Weiss was still the same stuck up mean girl she always had been, and this would just have to be something Ruby would have to accept.

Ruby looked down to the scythe in her hands. _At least I still have one of my partners... _she thought to herself.

Alison looked off in the direction Ruby had, her semblance allowing her to precisely follow her new opponent's eyesight directly to what appeared to be the source of her new dismay: Weiss. She had no idea what happened between the two girls, likely something that occurred in the emerald forest.

She cast her mind back to not long ago, after the teams were announced. JNPR, RWBY and EMAD had gathered together to celebrate the end of the initiation. The teams had met up in RWBY's new room to celebrate, introductions had been made and stories were traded about what the students had experienced during the initiation as they fought to recover the relics.

At the time though, two people were rather quiet. Maria only entered the conversation at a few points, and never for more than a few words, but at least she had spoken, she had said something. Weiss, on the other hand, was completely silent the whole time as she stared at the back of her new leader's head with a frown on her face, a look somewhere between anger and confusion.

Alison didn't have much time to consider this before she was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of Goodwitch announcing "Ready..." Quickly, the artist got herself into a fighting stance as the professor called "Go!"

**(Author's note: Music begins here. Song: Hengsha by Miracle of Sound) (Secondary note: no, he won't be doing the whole soundtrack to this, but some of his songs fit well in the story.)**

Ruby began the fight, firing off several shots from _Crescent Rose, _but instead of dodging like Ruby thought she might, Alison simply raised her Zhua, her eyes glowing blue as she deflected the shot. Ruby fired again and again, but not only were her shots blocked, but Alison was slowly advancing on her, her unblinking eyes glowing blue the whole time.

Ruby knew that gunshots weren't going to work, so she spun her scythe around, aiming behind her and pulled the trigger. In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby shot towards Alison and swung _Crescent Rose, _but Alison was ready, and blocked the blade with _Pianji's _shaft. She then brought her zhua back and swung at the reaper with the claw end, Ruby ducking under the attack as it soared over her head and using the shaft of her scythe to sweep Alison's legs out from under her.

The artist fell to the floor as Ruby brought up her scythe for the finishing blow, only for her shot to be blocked, Alison catching the very tip of her weapon with the shaft of hers, her eyes once again the colour of the sky. She then pushed back, sending the reaper stumbling back as she got to her feet and prepared to fight once again.

That was when Ruby decided it was time to fight semblance with semblance. She charged, her attacks fuelled by her speed as she made seemingly wild slashes that forced Alison onto the defensive. She had no trouble parrying the sweeping and spinning slashes Ruby made, but they came so fast she was unable to make any of her own, and the younger girl had so much energy at all times she was unlikely to ever stop.

Then the quiet girl had an idea. She continued to block Ruby's attacks, her Zhua spinning and flying about to block all the strikes from the red hooded girl, until she had the perfect opportunity: Ruby made a sweeping attack, one made to cut an opponent in two, but Alison quickly leapt back as Ruby swung past. She knew she didn't have long to put her plan into action, so she extended her Zhua as much as she could, knocking aside _Crescent Rose_. Ruby stumbled as she tried to regain control of her weapon, but that was when Alison struck, hitting her right in the midsection with the claw end of her staff and sending her to the floor.

Moving fast, Alison raised her weapon for the final blow of the match, but Ruby wasn't about to go down that easy. Especially when _she _was watching.

**(New Music: Red Like Roses Part II by Jeff Williams)**

Alison's zhua descended, but a loud 'bang' was heard and Ruby vanished. Alison's weapon hit the floor, but just as it did another 'bang' was heard and Ruby slammed right into her, boots first and sent her flying across the stage.

Ruby didn't stop, using another shot to fly at her opponent again, swinging her weapon at the artist, but Alison rolled out of the way at the last second. She swung her claw, but Ruby escaped with another shot, flying back in a flurry of petals and firing two more shots that Alison was forced to deflect before she charged again, firing off another shot and flying at Alison, trying to catch the quiet girl with her scythe. She was pleased when her scythe made contact with something, but it was only the shaft of _Pianji, _the weapon blocking the strike but not the impact as the artist was caught.

Ruby wasted no time, summoning her strength and using it to pick up Alison and throw her across the stage. She landed and rolled with the impact, rising to her feet just as Ruby made another high speed slash. The quiet girl dove under the attack and ran for the middle of the stage.

Ruby spun around and opened fire, Alison blocking the shots again as she advanced on the other girl. Ruby knew this would still get her nowhere, so calling on her speed she charged, aiming the butt spike of her scythe at her opponent.

That was when Alison activated her dust, firing fire and lightning out of the claws of her zhua. Ruby leapt over the attack and firing behind her she shot at the other girl like a rocket, just barely missing as Alison jumped back.

Ruby was forced back as the artist swung her claw, but she managed to get out of the way of the claw, unfortunately, the fire that flew with it hit her and knocked her back.

As Ruby rolled with the hit, Alison moved in to finish her off, but the reaper once again disappeared with a flurry of petals and a sniper rifle shot. Alison turned to her and fired a blast of fire dust, but the red cloaked girl vanished once again, appearing behind her but disappearing again when the artist turned to face her. Ruby smiled as she did the same thing again. Keeping her opponent guessing before she fired again might get her a hit as her opponent didn't know where the attack would come from.

Unbeknownst to her, Alison had the same thought. The other girl was moving around so fast, what if she was unable to block her next shot? She needed a plan and quickly. A dust blast wouldn't work since Ruby would be gone before she could even fire. Unless

In a shower of roses and a gunshot, Ruby landed right behind Alison and raised _Crescent Rose _for the finishing shot, but the artist leapt into the air, the bullet flying under her. Ruby adjusted her aim and fired into the air after her. Alison spun in the air and dodged the shot. Soon she fell though, and as she did she aimed _Pianji's _claws at the ground. The iron claw struck the ground, the crystal in the palm glowing a bright blue before a burst of ice exploded from the weapon, covering the whole stage, including Ruby's cape and boots in a layer of ice.

Unable to move, Ruby could do nothing as Alison charged, only stopping when Goodwitch called out "Enough!"

Both girls turned to the professor. "I think we all know who won this match. Miss Rose, you did well, but Miss Zu has won today."

Ruby looked down at her frozen feet before turning to Weiss. The white haired girl had her face down in her hands. _She probably thinks I'm even dumber now..._

The sound of ice cracking brought Ruby out of her thoughts. She turned to see Alison using the ball end of her zhua to break the ice that held her. Her cape was now free, and the quiet girl was now working on her boots. "Thanks." Ruby muttered, dejectedly.

"Think nothing of it." Alison answered, a smile on her face. "You did well back there." She continued "The tactic at the end of the match almost had me."

Ruby looked up to meet the other girl's eyes. "Really?"

Alison nodded. "The move I used at the end was a complete gamble really. I'm shocked it even worked."

Ruby smiled for a moment before her face fell again. "No one else knows that though."

"No, but they know you almost won." Ruby looked at the artist questioningly at this, Alison pointing up to the screens. Ruby's aura had dropped into the red, but Alison's was only a sliver higher.

Knowing she had done better put a smile on the red hooded girl's face as her feet were freed from their icy bonds.

Meanwhile, at the top of the class, the two male professors watched with interest as the battle ended.

Marlow nodded, impressed at the young girls' skills.

Fantine, on the other hand, felt the need to add more. "Now that, that is skill. Those two will make fine huntresses some day. Not at all like that boy of yours."

"He's not my boy." Marlow muttered.

"He's not a real huntsman either. He likely never will be. The boy will be expelled or eaten by Grimm within a few years, hopefully the first." Said Fantine "The boy's a good lad, I'd hate to see him die."

Marlow made a low, growling noise in the back of his throat. Fantine said nothing in response, thinking it was only the veteran facing the truth.

He was wrong. The red coated professor had a plan to put his colleague in his place.

He stood up, the action already getting his masked companion's attention. He clapped loudly, getting the attention of the entire class, the students shocked at the unnoticed presence of the other professors. "Excellent show professor, truly impressive." Goodwitch gave him a look as if to say 'go on.' "Although, as excellent as they are, why don't Fantine and I show them just how we managed to survive this long and become professor's at Beacon."

"What are you doing?" demanded the phantom in a harsh whisper.

"Showing these children what a real huntsman looks like." The veteran replied, his expression not rising as he walked to the stage. "Now come on, let's show them what we can do."

Getting up and grumbling, Fantine followed his comrade down to the ring.

oxoxoxo

It wasn't long before both professors were suited for battle, Marlow strapping both his sabres to his belt and a rifle to his back while Fantine strapped on his rapier.

Both teachers stepped up to the ring, all the students watching to see just what their professors could do. Of course, one of the most excited was Ruby, the hyperactive girl excited to see just what the arsenal of Beacon's staff would look like. She looked off to the side to see what Weiss might think, but the white haired girl had disappeared. _Where did she go? _Wondered Ruby, somewhat sadly. _Maybe she left after I lost and I just didn't notice. _

"You okay Ruby?"

Ruby turned around to see it was Yang who had spoken. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about something."

Yang looked at her sister confusedly. "That's a surprise. I mean, we have two veteran hunters about to duel for us and instead of focusing on the _hunters _or their _weapons, _you're thinking about something else." The brawler said, putting emphasis on the words she knew would get her sister back into the real world and out of her head. _Probably somewhere I should get her out of, _she thought _she seems pretty depressed._

Fortunately, Yang's plan worked perfectly. "Ooh I can't ignore huntsmen and their weapons... Let's get this party started!"

Meanwhile, team JNPR were trying to get Jaune's confidence back after his defeat. "It's alright Jaune," said Pyrrha "everyone has one of those days."

Jaune looked up at the Amazon "Even you?" he grumbled. The knight knew he shouldn't have talked like that, but by dust, that defeat was humiliating. It was times like this that Jaune wondered whether Ozpin was right to put him in charge of a team.

Pyrrha looked away and rubbed her arm in embarrassment, an action that was not appreciated by a certain hammer wielder. "She's trying to help you!" snapped Nora, her usually happy demeanour broken. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"Nora..." said Ren, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Ren," said Jaune with a sigh "She's right, I deserve it, sorry Pyrrha."

Pyrrha gave a small smile, but she could see from just a desk away at Team EMAD Maria Gaia was rolling her eyes at her and Jaune behind his back.

_Pathetic. _Thought the centurion. _How did someone with so little skill even end up at Beacon? _As much as she wracked her brain, she could not come up with anything that made sense.

But now was not the time for such thoughts, the professors who tested them were preparing for a demonstration of skill, and one of her teammates had just won a fierce battle against a child prodigy and another... well, he had put up a good fight...

"_C'est tres magnifique!" _declared Francois. "So much better than our colleague here." He said, gesturing to Thatch.

Said swordsman grumbled a little before speaking. "Ignoring that, you were amazing Alison, really, nice work."

Alison said nothing, the quiet girl merely smiling at the praise from her teammates. Soon enough though, she spoke up "You did pretty good too." She said softly.

Thatch heard her and returned the smile, a real smile, not his usual smirk or grin. "You were bloody brilliant though."

"He's right," said Maria, joining the group. "you beat her handily."

Alison had a small blush on her face. "I gambled at the end, really."

Maria smiled and put a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "If a gamble pays off, it was a good choice." The centurion then turned to Thatch. "As for you," the renegade audibly gulped as Maria approached him. "you had a tough opponent and put up a good fight." That relaxed the swordsman, his shoulders visibly dropped in relief. "But!" That caught his attention again. "I want a victory out of you next time, got it?"

"Yes ma'am!" said Thatch, standing ramrod straight as Francois tried to contain his laughter.

"And you!" the team leader said, pointing an accusing finger at the marksman. "Don't laugh, you still haven't fought anyone here. If you win, then you can make fun of Thatch all you like."

"This gives me quite the motivation." Francois mused. _"Oui madame, _you will not be disappointed."

"I better not be." Maria warned, but the small smile she gave at the end showed she at least enjoyed _part _of that order. She was about to keep talking when she heard words from the front of the class that silenced her and drew the attention of the entire room to the front of the room.

"Ready... Go!" called Goodwitch as the fight began.


	13. Classes Begin IV

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 9**

oxoxoxo

Curtis Marlow held his bolt action rifle in his hands, aiming down the sights as if he were pointing at an opponent. Deciding this wasn't the right fight for that, he flicked a small switch right under the bolt and converted the rifle to a large pistol, drawing one of his sabres to join it. Spinning the blade in his hand, he took a deep breath. He was ready to put Fantine in his place.

On the other end of the stage, Erik Fantine was taking a rather different approach to readying himself. He drew and inspected his rapier, running a finger along the edge of the blade, pleased with the blood drawn from his finger when he brought it back to his face. He then ran a hand over his mask, making sure it was secure, didn't want to frighten the children with his scar. Finally, he adjusted his suit, pulling on both sleeves and the collar, making sure it was all in place before turning to his opponent.

"Are you ready?" asked Marlow.

**(Author's Note: music begins here. Song: Coat of Arms by Sabaton, instrumental version.)**

Instead of an answer, Fantine merely smirked and removed his cape, the garment flying around him in a dramatic flourish before he threw it into the classroom. He raised his sword and pointed it to his opponent. Marlow answered in kind, raising his sabre to Fantine.

Goodwitch looked to both of her colleagues, and seeing they were both prepared she gave the words the class was waiting for: "Ready... Go!"

Marlow struck first, raising his pistol and firing at Fantine, but the masked professor dodged the bullets, seeming to melt into shadows as he swiftly moved around and under shots as he moved in on Marlow. Upon reaching his opponent, Fantine struck, his rapier lunging for Marlow's hand and knocking his pistol away.

Marlow took a step back as he was forced onto the defensive, dodging or parrying all of Fantine's stabs and thrusts, but knocking aside one of his attacks, the red coat was able to resume his attack, his saber flying through the air with an audible hiss, making quick hacks that Fantine was just able to block or avoid.

That said, the dark robed professor was not about to lose so easily. Leaping back to the other end of the stage, Fantine reached into his coat, and in a single flourish he hurled a knife, the blade striking Marlow in the shoulder. Fantine charged, capitalizing on his opponent's injury, but Marlow ripped the dagger out of his body and side stepped the initial thrust Fantine made, coming back with a slash of his own that the phantom was forced to dodge, rolling underneath the blade.

As Fantine rose, Marlow reached into his coat and in a second, another pistol, identical to the first was aimed at the phantom. The students watched from the crowd, expecting the veteran to end the battle, but the red coated professor couldn't move.

Standing before him wasn't Erik Fantine. No, the black robed professor was replaced by a man in bright white armour and blonde hair, his blue eyes welcoming and his goatee framing a kind smile. The man picked up his sword and took a few steps toward the red coat who began to tremble as he pointed the gun. "You can't shoot me." Said the man, calmly. "You know you can't do it Curtis."

Marlow realized what was happening as soon as the man raised his sword. The veteran jumped out of the way as Fantine stabbed, just barely missing. He then began to open fire, a bullet catching Fantine in the right shoulder, hindering his sword arm.

As Marlow reloaded his pistol to fire again, Fantine hurled another knife, just missing Marlow as he dodged the blade, but giving the phantom plenty of time to draw another knife, this one larger than the first two and possessing two small prongs on one side, and charged his colleague. The red coat raised his pistol to fire again, but before he could, the gun was knocked away by the masked professor's dagger as he made a stab with his rapier.

Marlow managed to dodge the rapier's thrust, but his retaliating slash was caught by the prongs on Fantine's dagger. With a flick of his wrist, the sword was yanked out of Marlow's grasp and went skittering across the floor. Before Fantine could make another attack, however, Marlow grabbed his sword hand and kicked him in the stomach, sending Fantine staggering back while Marlow tossed his sword away, drawing his second one to resume his attack.

**(New Music: Phantom of the Opera Overture by Andrew Lloyd Webber)**

Marlow charged again, sword pointed at Fantine, but the dark professor side stepped the charge, and switching his dagger to his right hand he stabbed Marlow in the arm, the red coat hiding the blood as he cried out in pain.

But the phantom's attack didn't end there. "I'm so sorry, was that your last pistol? What a shame."

Marlow snarled as he resumed his attack, making several slashes against Fantine, all of which the black robed professor managed to dodge, all the while taunting him further. "You really should be more careful with those things." Dodge "You won't hit anything like that." Juke "You almost had me there." Duck. That was when he delivered the most crushing line of all, the only one to really have an effect, whispered so that only the veteran would hear. "What would Arc think?"

That line sent the red coat into a rage, letting out a war cry as he swung his sword for Fantine's neck. But the phantom dodged, ducking under the slash and stabbing right into Marlow's leg.

The veteran stumbled back, biting through the pain. He'd fought through worse. He didn't have time to think of an example as Erik was now making his move, charging his opponent and stabbing for the chest. Marlow dodged, jumping out of the way of the stab and making an attack to his colleague again. He had learned from before to avoid being caught by the knife, so he used quick stabs and slashes to strike without being caught.

That was when Fantine decided he had let this go on long enough. He waited for Marlow to make a particularly vicious strike and leapt back from it, jumping back to the other end of the stage. Both combatants glared at each other for a moment before the veteran spoke. "I didn't know you were that much of a coward."

The phantom only smirked and shot out his hand, a rope firing out from his sleeve and wrapping around Marlow's sword hand. Before he could react, Fantine quickly retracted the rope, pulling Curtis off his feet and across the floor where he was caught by the phantom who held his sword arm down with one hand, put a knee on his chest to hold him to the floor and held his knife to his throat.

"Stop!" Yelled Goodwitch. Fantine said nothing, the only thing that proved he was listening being the fact that he didn't open Marlow's neck. "After that fight, professor Fantine, who will now release professor Marlow, is the winner. That will be all for today, class dismissed."

As the students got up to leave, Fantine leaned down to whisper in the ear of his opponent. "You won't die by my hand today old friend, after all, if I wanted you dead that rope would be around your neck. However, if you ever do something like that again I will give you a scar to match mine."

Marlow said nothing, only looking up to his opponent with a serene expression, one that belied a towering rage.

Fantine released his colleague and went to retrieve his cape and weapons. As Curtis got to his feet, however, he heard another voice. "What was that?" He turned to see Glynda standing behind him, her face looking unimpressed yet confused. "I've seen you fight before, and that was the worst you've ever done! You didn't even use your semblance!"

Marlow sighed. He should have known this was coming. "I don't know what happened, Glynda."

The veteran was hoping he could get out of this, but the mage was having none of it. "It's about Arc, isn't it?"

"Glynda, I-"

"You need to get over it. Jaune will rise or fall by his own merits, and you can't defend him."

"Glynda-"

"No, Curtis. I don't know what Ozpin sees in him, but the boy managed to get to quite possibly the best combat school in Remnant. If he deserves to be here, he'll show us that he does."

Curtis grumbled something under his breath. "And if he doesn't?"

Glynda didn't even miss a beat. "He'll be sent home." She said as she turned to walk away. Curtis was about to follow and demand an answer, but the mage wasn't finished with him yet. "I know what you think, but if he is sent home it'll only be for the best. Now pick up your things, you have another class today."

Marlow only looked down at this and made to collect his weapons.

oxoxoxo

Ruby rose lay on her bed, all her books and supplies strewn about the mattress as she tried to study. Unfortunately, two factors were preventing her from getting any studying done. The first, she was dead tired. Her battle with Alison had drained her considerably, and lying on her bed with Yang and Blake across the room snoring contently was not helping.

The second was something that had bothered her for almost all of today: Weiss.

The heiress hadn't even been seen since Goodwitch's class, and Ruby was starting to worry. She didn't think Weiss was in trouble, the ivory girl knew how to take care of herself very handily, but still Ruby worried. Weiss had accused her of not being worthy to lead the team, even after everything they had been through together in the Emerald Forest. After the initiation, Ruby had wanted all of her new friends to be able to work together as a team, but right now she didn't even have her partner.

_What if Weiss was right, _She thought _what if Ozpin really did make a mistake when he made me our team leader? _She tried to think happier thoughts, but these questions kept intruding. What had she done to earn her place here? Should she have asked Ozpin to make Weiss or Yang team leader? Both of them had much more experience in combat than she did...

Ruby's thoughts were interrupted by a long yawn, her body telling her it was time to sleep. _I might as well turn in for now... Maybe things will be easier tomorrow morning..._

As Ruby began to nod off, she could have sworn she heard the door open, but right now she was too tired to care. It was late and she had been through a lot today, both physically and mentally.

She should have kept her eyes open, as the object of her thoughts walked in the door.

Weiss crept through the room, moving quietly as to not wake up Blake and Yang. She silently climbed up to Ruby's bunk just above her own and looked over the girl. Ruby was a wreck, hair messed up as if she had tried to tear it out in frustration and sprawled out on her bed surrounded by books and papers, all the books either opened to pages relating to what they had studied today, and the papers messily scrawled notes on how to better herself. The heiress picked up one of the notes, seeing it was a record of her match against Alison. Weiss had left as soon as the ice blast hit, only now realizing how much she probably hurt the younger girl.

That's when she realized that Port was right. She had spent her whole life getting exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. She had been so angry about not being leader that instead of giving Ruby a reasonable chance she had given the girl less than a day to be a good leader – no, to be _her. _She realized that now, that she had wanted Ruby to act exactly as she would.

She wasn't sure what she was going to say, but she needed to say something, and so she gave Ruby a small nudge. The red headed girl shifted and groaned softly before her eyes opened and she realized who she was talking to.

Ruby sprung up. "Weiss! I was studying and then I fell asleep, I'm sorry-"

Weiss covered her mouth before she could wake Yang or Blake up. "Relax Ruby, I'm not here to yell at you."

"You're not?" Ruby said, somewhere between hopeful and confused.

Weiss gave a small smile. It was subtle, but it was there. "Ruby, I think you might have what it takes to be a good leader." The smile that brought to Ruby's face seemed to lift a huge weight off her shoulders. "Just know that I'm going to be the best teammate you'll ever have." Ruby's smile only got wider, the expression becoming contagious as it spread to Weiss' face. "Good luck studying." Weiss said as she climbed down, suddenly remembering something she had seen in Ruby's notes, popping up to point it out and say "That's wrong by the way." With that, the white haired girl climbed down to get ready for bed.

Ruby lay back on her bed, that smile still on her face as she felt at least a hundred pounds lighter. _Maybe it's time to call it a night. _She thought. _I'll study tomorrow._

That's when her thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice from the bed below her. "Hey Ruby?" said Weiss.

"Uh huh?"

Weiss was silent for a few seconds before responding. "I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

oxoxoxo

Alison watched from her bed with a smile as Thatch handed Francois twenty lien. The two boys had made a bet on who would win the battle of the professors today, with Thatch betting on Marlow while Francois chose Fantine. They had tried to keep the bet a secret from the rest of the team, thinking Maria would chew them out for it.

Little did they know that Maria and Alison had both overheard their bet and agreed to not tell them, see how long before they realized that they knew. Maria had said to 'let them squirm a bit if they were ever caught betting again, then we'll laugh at them.'

"What are you so cheery about?"

Alison looked up to see Thatch, the boy unable to keep frowning. "It's nothing," she said "how was your reunion with your old friend today?"

Thatch smiled and shook his head. "I don't think we can call that a reunion, maybe if we did something a little less violent next time."

Alison looked down. So he was happy to be with her again. She was about to ask him something else when Maria called out "Alright, lights out for tonight. I don't want any complaints tomorrow."

Thatch rolled his eyes and walked past her. "As you wish, your majesty."

"Ma'am will work just fine." Maria replied "Or, you know, you could just call me Maria. That is my name after all. We get the bathroom first tonight." With that, Maria and Alison walked to the bathroom, leaving the two rivals of the team alone.

Francois chortled as Thatch lay down on his bed. "Cut it out noble boy."

"As you wish." Francois replied "Were you happy to see your _petite amie_ again today?"

Thatch looked at the marksman and raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Your girlfriend."

"Oh..." said Thatch, lying back down.

Then the swordsman got back up. "Who?"

"The blonde you sparred with today."

Thatch looked at Francois for a few seconds before the renegade burst out laughing.

That went on for a few seconds before Francois grumbled "I'm getting sick of that... What is so funny?"

Thatch took a moment to compose himself. "You thought me and Yang" he couldn't help it, he started laughing again. "I'm sorry, I should have told you before."

"Told me what?" Francois asked, thoroughly confused. Just what was this idiot saying?

"Yang is not interested in me in the least." Thatch said "I found that out the hard way back at signal."

"Oh, I need to hear this."

Thatch gave one last chuckle before saying "Maybe some other time, a time when I'm not tired and bruised and _short on money._"

Francois rolled his eyes. "You can't blame me for _your _bad choice."

"I just did noble boy."

oxoxoxo

**Happy Season 2 of RWBY everyone!**

**To celebrate you get **_**three **_**chapters in **_**one **_**day!**

**Now just a couple of quick announcements from my good friend DeadAliveManiac who is sadly lacking a computer right now.**

Hey guys, DAM speaking through Zivon and my Xbox. I would have loved to upload tons of chapters to celebrate RWBY Volume 2...but my computer is caught in a loop and I need a laptop for college, funny how it breaks when I prepare to upgrade after a decade of using it. The laptop is a Dell refurbished, I can't remember all of the details of its long name, which I ordered on the 23rd and expect in a week or two, maybe less. Sorry guys, I'm really bummed and mad I can't participate in FanFiction for a while. But as soon as I get my hands on that device, there will be updates upon updates for everything, including two new stories:

DAM and Zivon's Radical Historical Exploits: Based on Bill and Ted, Zivon and I go through history changing key events to see how it affects the present. It's a ridiculous comedy that even the strictest history buffs will laugh at.

Kill Wesker: A Resident Evil story inspired by the Kill Bill movies, possibly in two volumes to pay homage to the movie.

See you all soon!


	14. The Year Goes On

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 10**

oxoxoxo

At the same time, Ruby Rose could not have been happier or more upset. On the bright side, Weiss was back, and the two of them would be a great team forever, or at least until they graduated, whichever came first, and that was great!

But on the other hand, she hated it when her friends were upset, and it could not be more obvious that Jaune was hiding just how much Cardin was getting to him. Cardin and Jaune had never gotten along well, and things had only gotten worse with his loss to the brute in Goodwitch's class two weeks ago.

And the worst part was Jaune wasn't even trying to do anything about it. The knight just stood there and took anything Cardin threw at him, just trying to shrug it all off as if he didn't mind. Ruby could tell though, that Cardin's actions were really starting to take their toll. As the teams sat down to lunch, it was obvious to both her and Pyrrha that Jaune was tuning out Nora's story. Normally he'd be chuckling with his team as the hammer wielder spun her impossible tales, but now he was just picking at his food, a look of apathy on his face.

Pyrrha turned to the Jaune with a concerned look. "Jaune? Are you okay?"

Jaune didn't answer for a few seconds, only seeming to notice his teammate after a short silence. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, why?"

Ruby decided to voice her own concerns at that point. "It's just that... you seem a little... not... okay..." she forced out.

"Guys, I'm fine." Jaune tried to counter. "Seriously, look." He said, putting on a strained smile and flashing a thumbs up as he sat higher in his seat. He let out a small, nervous chuckle as he tried to look happy.

He could not, however resist sparing a glance across the dining hall at another table where Team CRDL was harassing a faunus girl with rabbit ears. The girl was cowering in fear as the much larger humans stood around her, taunting and harassing her as she tried to eat. He was too far away to hear what was being said, but it was obviously about her heritage as she seemed to want to hide her ears. It wasn't working.

Jaune clenched a fist as he continued to watch this. He was broken out of his thoughts, however, when his teammate piped up from next to him. "Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of class."

_Oh crap, they noticed... _Jaune thought. _Need to think of something, fast... _"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around, you know, practical jokes..."

"He's a bully." Ruby interjected.

"Oh please." Jaune countered "Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"Well," said Ruby "how many times has he knocked your books out of your hands?"

"Pfft, that's nothing..." Jaune said with a chuckle.

"What about that time he activated our shield and got you stuck in a door?" said Thatch.

"Oh, come on, that was funny!"

At about when he stuffed you in your own rocket powered locker?" asked Pyrrha "He sent you flying!"

Jaune said nothing for a few seconds.

"How did no one see that again?" muttered Francois.

"I didn't land far from the school..." said Jaune.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha insisted.

Jaune looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by Nora. "OOH! We'll break his legs!" she cried, an evil smile on her usually happy face.

There was an awkward silence following that, one that was broken by Thatch muttering "Not a bad idea..."

Jaune knew he needed to stop this before it went any further. "Guys, really, it's fine." He said, getting up "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone!"

"Ow! That hurts!"

All three teams turned to where the outburst came from, all of them feeling an anger burning in the pits of their stomachs. Cardin, apparently wanting to prove just how repulsive he could be, was pulling on one of the ears of the faunus girl he was picking on. She was begging for him to stop, but the brute just kept pulling.

"I told you they were real." The black knight said with a chuckle.

Sky and dove just laughed, Thrush adding "What a freak!"

Cardin had one last, hearty laugh before he released his captive, the rabbit girl covering her face and running from the cafeteria, sobbing just loud enough for them to hear.

Alison could only stare open mouthed at what her former test companion had just done. "Did he really just do that?"

Thatch clenched a fist and grumbled. "He did. I can't believe it."

"Attrocious..." muttered Pyrrha. "I can't stand people like him."

"On that, I think I can agree with you..." Maria replied.

"He's not the only one." Blake added from across the table.

"It must be hard to be a faunus." Yang thought aloud, missing the look of guilt that washed over her partner's face for just a second.

Jaune cast one look back to his teammates and friends before sighing and walking off.

Thatch stared after the knight, a look of disbelief and almost rage on his face. "Is he just going to walk away? He needs to do something about his." He tried to stand up, but a hand on his shoulder made him stop and look down. The hand belonged to Alison who stared up at him, pleading him with her deep, green eyes to not do anything rash. With a heavy sigh, the renegade took his seat again, the quiet girl giving a soft smile.

From her other side, however, Francois rose from his seat, placing his wide brimmed hat back on his head. "Where are you going?" demanded Maria.

Francois cast a glance down to his leader and said "Someone has to make sure she's okay."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Ren. "After being harassed about being a faunus, do you think she really wants to see a human right now?"

"Human or _non,_" Francois replied "After what happened, she needs someone. I'll return _quand je suis fini._" With that, the nobleman got up and walked off in pursuit of the faunus girl.

oxoxoxo

Velvet Scarlatina didn't stop walking until she reached a secluded corner of the school where she sat down and sobbed to herself. Why? Why her? What had she done wrong? It was when her ears fell over her eyes that she received the answer to her rhetorical question. She knew there were people who thought of her people as second class citizens, but having lived in a small, insulated village all her life until this point, she had never met any of those people, and therefore didn't know just how... how awful they could be. She didn't even have a team yet to hide behind when they came for her. And the other students... to her they could be considered just as bad. They did nothing to her, but they had also just sat passively by while she was harassed.

_And with my luck, when I do get a team, they'll probably be just as bad..._

With that thought in her head, Velvet brought her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her knees as she began to sob anew. At this rate, she'd never be free of that Winchester boy and his cronies. She'd spend the year being his target. _And all because of my bloody ears! _That thought sent her further into sorrow. _Why does this year have to be so long? _She thought.

So absorbed was she in her grief that she barely noticed when someone said _"Excusé moi, _are you okay?"

Velvet didn't want to look up, afraid she might be pushed right back down, but her curiosity got the better of her and she peered up from her knees, ears and sorrow to see a boy standing in front of her, his hand outstretched to her. A_ human _boy. What was he doing here? Probably wanted to pick on her some more. That's what humans did, harass the faunus and then tell them they deserved it, that they were monsters, no better than the White Fang, the faunus terrorist organization dedicated to bring down humanity at all costs and raise the faunus to where they belonged.

Not wanting to give him the chance to hurt her any more than she already was, Velvet only looked away, lowering her head back into her knees, refusing to cry this time though. She wouldn't give him what he wanted.

The boy didn't seem to get the hint though as he didn't leave. No, he instead sat down next to her and put a hand on her back. "I understand why you would be angered with me." He said softly, just loud enough for her to hear. "You've obviously not had good experiences with my people in the past. I know I cannot erase what they have done, but I can tell you that not all of us are so awful."

Against her better judgement, Velvet spared a look up to the boy. She could tell he came from money with his fancy clothes and the look of his face with his long, flowing blonde hair and thin moustache that did just enough to make him stand out from the other students without making him look silly. Combine that with his accent, and there was no doubt in her mind.

That being said, she knew better than to look for too long, as he would always prove to be just another human, bigoted and hateful as the rest, no matter what he said.

"You doubt me." This wasn't a question. _"Je comprends. _Were I you, I would not trust a human I did not know, especially an armed one."

"You have a point, I hope." She said through her sobs. _Why am I talking to this man?_

"I'm asking you to trust me when I say I want to help you." He said "I've seen what happens when good people are hurt by ignorance and hatred. It would kill me to see something like that happen to you."

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked, genuinely interested against her better instincts.

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get a word out, a bell rang out around the school, signalling the beginning of class was not far off. The boy shook his head and rose to his feet, offering his hand to the rabbit eared girl. "I'll tell you another time, classes will begin soon and if I'm late, my leader will kill me and my partner will never let me forget it. Will you accompany me?"

Velvet hesitated. On one hand, he was human, and therefore similar to Winchester. On the other, he was one of the few people at this school who had ever talked to her and not called her an animal.

After a few moments of silence in which she looked him over, searching for any sign that he might be lying, Velvet tentatively took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Taking a moment to brush away her lingering tears, he shook his head and said "How rude of me, I never told you my name. _Je suis _Francois Delatrois, _et tu madame?" _Velvet gave him a questioning look, whereupon he said "What is your name?"

Velvet gave a nervous smile and said "Velvet Scarlatina."

Francois brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. Velvetès face turned red as he came up to say _"Enchanté, après vous." _He said, gesturing in the direction of the next class.

With her head held slightly higher, Velvet followed this boy to class. For the first time in her life, she had found what seemed like a decent human.

A part of her mind, however, did not believe it. This boy was likely nothing but trouble. A bigot in disguise trying to get her to lower her guard, or worse, a playboy looking for an easy notch in his bedpost. No matter how hard she persisted, these thoughts remained in the back of her mind, refusing to leave her alone.


	15. Deception and Decision

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 11**

oxoxoxo

Classes did not go as well as Francois had hoped.

Oh, it had started off well enough, as he had brought Velvet to class with Professor Oobleck and introduced her to the rest of his team. Maria had brought out one of her rare nice looks for the faunus girl, and Thatch had made a promise to remain polite when she was around. Unsurprisingly though, the faunus girl got along best with Alison, the two of them engaging in a quiet conversation before class began. He had even made plans to introduce her to teams RWBY and JNPR at the end of the day, give her a whole group of friends.

But then history class had started.

The fact that it was about the Faunus War and the rise of the White Fang was bad enough, the defeat of their armies and formation of one of the most feared extremist groups in vale was already enough to make any faunus in the room ashamed of their lineage. Making it all the worse was the fact that Cardin Winchester made a new crack about the 'animals' humanity was fighting in the war at almost every five minutes, each time throwing a pointed glance at a faunus student as if just to say 'history says we won, therefore you're all losers.' With each comment he made, Velvet seemed to want to sink down into the ground.

It wasn't made any better by the end of class when Cardin was finally put in his place because another was dragged down with him. By virtue of bad luck and lack of sleep the previous night, Jaune Arc spent the majority of the class trying not to fall asleep, to the point that when the professor sped over to the knight to ask him about the loss of General Lagune at fort Castle. When it became evident that the knight didn't know the answer, Pyrrha tried to help him from across the class, making gestures toward her eyes in an attempt to indicate faunus night vision. However, this plan didn't go as well as she thought it would. Jaune did not understand what she was trying to say – _and neither would I... _thought Francois – and ended up saying that the faunus army had binoculars.

When Jaune gave his answer, much of the class burst into laughter as Jaune started to look distressingly like Velvet in that he wanted to sink into the floor.

"Very funny mister Arc." Said Oobleck "Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject?"

Cardin snorted. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." He said, dismissively.

Francois instinctively put a hand on Thatch's shoulder, stopping the renegade from getting up and knocking Cardin's lights out. Looking over to him, the nobleman saw he was right to worry. Thatch's mouth was set in a snarl and his fists were clenched as he glared at Cardin. Francois increased the pressure, forcing him back into his seat as he turned to his other side where Velvet was looking at her feet with a sad look on her face. The marksman put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off. The look on her face made him almost want to release the renegade on Cardin and watch the fireworks. Almost.

After Pyrrha gave the correct answer of faunus night vision, what happened next could have been spotted a mile away. Cardin and Jaune were both told to stay after class for additional readings. This made the nobleman shake his head in shame as the class went on.

oxoxoxo

Pyrrha sighed as she left Oobleck's class. That hadn't gone well. Nora and Ren walked out after her, but she stopped next to the door. Ren looked to her and then to his energetic partner who was currently vibrating with energy. Pyrrha looked down to her watch, it was pretty late, and Ren probably wanted to get back to their room as soon as he could and get some rest. "You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune."

Ren nodded and led Nora away as Pyrrha leaned against the wall. She knew Jaune was smart, he devised a way to take down a Deathstalker after all, and did it while he was in danger of being skewered. But that was in the field, and lately in class, especially combat classes, her leader had been lagging behind. Then there was the Cardin problem... She wasn't sure what was going on, but she wanted to help with it. That was the kind of person she was. But what to do?

"Is something wrong Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha looked up from her thoughts to see someone she neither expected nor even noticed arrive. "It's nothing Alison, just thinking." Teams RWBY, JNPR and EMAD had only grown closer since the initiation, and while she doubted she would ever fully make friends with Maria and her competitive nature, the rest of her team had proven to be good friends to her and her teammates.

"It's Jaune, isn't it?" Alison guessed.

Pyrrha crossed her arms. "How did you figure that out?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm not good at talking to most people, but I am good at reading them." the artist replied "You care about him and you want to help him, but you don't know how, or even what's really wrong with him."

Pyrrha looked the artist directly in the eye. "I'm surprised at you Alison." The quiet girl cocked her head in confusion. "When I first met you, it was at the celebration that Team RWBY threw at the end of our initiations, and you barely said or did anything. You didn't take any of the food, you didn't join any of the conversations, and you didn't even speak to anyone other than your teammates, and even then it was mostly Thatch and Maria. Now, you'll initiate a conversation with me."

Alison looked down, a small smile still on her face. "I was always shy before I came here. I was homeschooled all my life, even after my parents died, so when I came here and there were all these people, I wasn't sure how to deal with it." Her smile only got wider at that point "Then I met Thatch and Maria, and they talked to me. Maria especially was helpful, some of her first acts as team leader being to try and help me come out of my shell."

Pyrrha could scarcely believe it. Maria Gaia, her rival, the girl who had nothing but glares for nearly everyone was teaching a shy girl to be more social. The same girl who would gladly beat you until you're covered in bruises if she didn't like you had enough of a heart to help another girl learn to deal with people.

"Don't tell her I said that though." Alison said, bringing Pyrrha back to reality. "She wants to keep up that tough girl image."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and smiled. "I understand. Either way though, it is nice to see Maria becoming more human." That was when Pyrrha's face fell slightly. "Now I just need to find a solution to Jaune's problem."

"What's his problem?" asked Alison, confused.

Pyrrha bit her lip. Jaune should be the one to talk about this, but for some reason Alison seemed trustworthy. Perhaps it was because she too had once been harassed by Cardin, and the only thing that got rid of him was Maria scaring him off. Sadly, she wasn't nearly as frightening as her permanently scowling rival, so that wasn't quite as plausible an option. In the end, she decided to try it out. "I think Cardin is starting to get to him. For a few weeks now, ever since he lost to Cardin in Goodwitch's class, Jaune has been picked on by him and I think he's starting to take it to heart. He's been slipping in his classes and I think he's even losing sleep over it."

Alison was quiet for a few moments. "Maybe you can help him."

"How?"

"You've been doing well in all your classes, you can help him study, help him train to be a better fighter."

Pyrrha shut up at that. It was so obvious, why hadn't she thought of it? Perhaps she was worrying too much. Maybe she was over thinking the problem. "Good idea."

Alison smiled at this. "Make the offer when he gets out, I should probably go when that happens, leave the two of you alone."

Now it was Pyrrha's turn to cock her head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

The artist's smile suddenly turned impish. "Oh, nothing." She said turning to walk away. She then stopped and turned back to the Amazon. "Maybe you should throw in dinner when you offer the training."

Alison then left, leaving a confused Pyrrha behind her. Managing to hear Cardin shove Jaune over and Pyrrha assure him she could and would break his legs, giggling at the assurance.

oxoxoxo

Maria Gaia sat at the edge of her bed, polishing the edge of her sword, a breeze running through the opened window at the back of the room. This had turned into her nightly ritual since coming to Beacon, sitting at her bed, her window open as she polished one or both of her weapons before she went to bed. She found it calmed her after a busy day to just idly run a rag over her blade or shield, lost in her own thoughts as she did, occasionally looking down to see her reflection in the weapon. With her teammates not around, there was no one to talk to anyway, so a night alone with her thoughts was fine with her.

Thatch and Francois were out with Velvet for a night of games with Team RWBY. Velvet had insisted on the nobleman going with her, still probably nervous about too many humans in one place, and Francois had insisted on bringing Thatch with him, the renegade agreeing on one condition, one that Maria had gladly agreed to.

Then there was the last member of her team. The last she had seen of the artist, she was staying back after class. It looked like she was talking to Pyrrha, but Maria hadn't stuck around for long enough to really notice. She'd have to talk to the artist when she got back.

The opening door broke Maria out of her thoughts as Alison walked in, the artist giving a small wave as she entered. "Hey you." Maria said. Ever since the initiation in the cave, the two of them had only grown closer, with Maria eventually starting to look at the quiet girl almost as a sister, helping her with adjusting to life in a larger school with more people. _I suppose anything's bigger than homeschooling..._

Maria considered bringing up her talk with her rival, but thought better of it before she did. She knew that for all her help, Alison was still more than a little nervous. If she sounded like she was accusing her of something wrong, Alison wouldn't speak for a week. _Maybe I should just give her Thatch's condition._ "I should probably tell you that our other teammates are at a game night with the RWBYs, Thatch wanted me to tell you you're invited."

Alison perked up at this. "You're coming too, right?"

Maria considered this for a moment. On one hand, her rival might be there, but on the other hand, if she didn't go, Alison might do _the face... _This was something Maria had discovered about a week into their partnership. When Alison was sad about something, she would make a pouty face, her eyes going wide, tears building and lower lip quivering. Maria had the strangest sense that she learned it from Ruby Rose, and while she _could _say no to it, if she did she'd have dreams of it for the next week. "You go without me, I'll meet you there."

Alison turned and walked out, Maria deciding the put away her sword before she left. Walking over to her bed, she picked up her gladius and sheathed it, putting it away with her shield before walking over to close the window.

"No, I don't!"

Maria paused next to her window as she heard that shout. She recognized the voice almost at once. It was that Arc boy... Part of Maria didn't want to do this, but if someone was shouting on the roof, it might be important. Quietly, Maria sat at her windowsill, listening in as Jaune continued to speak.

"I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..."

"What do you mean?"

That voice Maria recognized at once. It was her red headed rival. The Arc boy was out there with Pyrrha. Any inhibitions she might have had vanished there.

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests, I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" Jaune confessed, every word making Maria more and more angry. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts... and I lied."

"What?" Pyrrha asked "But why?"

Maria wasn't staying for the answer. Sutting her window as quietly as she could, Maria launched into a rage. Arc had lied. He had LIED. He had cheated his way here. All her skills in combat had prepared her for the day when she would take her first, confident steps into the halls of Beacon academy, and he tricks his way in with forged documents? How could she let this stand? Maria knew that someone had to be told.

Maria stormed over to her door, ready to throw it open storm Ozpin's office and demand Arc be expelled, but caught herself at the last moment. Jaune had unknowingly humiliated her by lying his way into the school while she used her actual skill, but there was one thing stopping her from taking this information to the faculty.

Her team.

She knew her team liked Arc, and she knew that if they ever found out she told Ozpin and had him expelled they would never forgive her. They would never follow her into battle, never obey her commands on the field, they would lose all respect for her in one second. This was a difficult choice to make, her pride, or her team.

"I need time to think..." she muttered "Now my head hurts." The centurion decided that she could in no way attend any game night, especially with Arc's friends. No, that would make her too angry to focus. Taking a seat on her bed, Maria let out an angry, heavy sigh.


	16. Forever Fall

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 12**

oxoxoxo

Something had upset Maria, but Alison had no idea what it was. The change in her behaviour was subtle, but with her exceptional accuracy, Alison had been able to spot it as soon as she and the boys got home from Game night with Team RWBY. The more prominent scowl on her face, the fact that she wasn't speaking as much, her inability to look her teammates in the eye for longer than a few seconds. Something was definitely wrong, but she didn't know just what it was.

"Alright boys," Maria called out "There are still classes tomorrow so I'm calling it a night now. You two can have the bathroom first." She said, ignoring or missing the groans and muttered curses from Thatch and Francois as they made their way to the bathroom. Having Maria to herself, the artist approached her and tapped the centurion on the shoulder. Maria turned around to look at her partner, her expression softening slightly. "Yes?"

Alison summoned her courage. Maria might have been her partner for almost a month now, but there was still something about the girl that was intimidating, making the quiet girl not want to talk to her sometimes, especially when she had to accuse her of something, like now. "What's wrong?"

Maria's eyes showed Alison that her leader had just closed herself off. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with me."

Alison swallowed before continuing. "Well, it's just, you seem a little more, you know, on edge..."

Maria frowned before taking the other girl by the shoulder. "What's going on with my life I'll figure out on my own. You, on the other hand seem to need a bit of help. What's the matter?"

The artist looked down at her feet, unable to meet the centurion's eyes. "Sorry." She said "You've been trying to help me talk to people ever since we became partners, but when you get mad." Alison grabbed her right arm with her left hand. "And since you didn't show up to game night like you said you would, I thought you might be mad at me..."

A look of understanding came to Maria's eyes and she sat the two of them down on her bed, an arm wrapped around the quiet girl's shoulder. "Alison, what happened had nothing to do with you. It's just something I'll need to deal with on my own."

Alison's face perked up at this and Maria pulled her in for a hug. "Why did you do that?" asked the artist.

Maria released her partner and looked her right in the eye. "I wanted to prove I'm not mad at you. Do you believe me?"

Alison said nothing, merely nodding with a smile.

"Alright ladies," Thatch called, emerging from the bathroom in his sleepwear of sweatpants and a black t-shirt, Francois following in the same outfit only in blue. "Bathroom's all yours." The renegade said, gesturing to the door.

Maria got up and walked to the open door, Alison staying behind to look after her leader for a few seconds before getting up to follow her. Thatch flashed her a smile on the way in, but Alison looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

Thatch looked after her with a confused gaze as the artist closed the door on him. "What is this?" he wondered aloud. Ever since his duel with Yang, Alison wasn't meeting his gaze as often, and almost never in the dorm. It was starting to worry the renegade, making him wonder if he had done something wrong.

His marksman partner certainly wasn't helping. _"Je ne sais pas, mon ami. _Whatever it is though, I'm sure it's your fault."

Thatch's only response was a frown as he walked to his bed and flopped down on it. "Thanks for nothing, mate..." he said.

"Don't get too worried about this." Francois said back "I'm sure she'll be back to talking to you again soon."

"Here's hoping that's soon." Thatch muttered "She's been at this for two weeks now."

"Two weeks..." muttered Francois "What happened two weeks ago that made her mad at you?" The marksman thought for a few moments before saying "Maybe she's embarrassed that you lost to a girl?"

Francois didn't have long to laugh before he was forced to duck to dodge a tossed pillow. "Very funny..." Thatch muttered, settling down on his remaining pillow, his attempt at sleep being interrupted by his partner hitting him in the face with the one he had just thrown. "I hate you..." he mumbled into the cushion.

"Cut the pillow talk boys." Said Maria, emerging in clothes similar to theirs, but in purple, Alison following her in a night gown. "Lights out time." She said, flicking the switch. Maria watched as her team settled down to sleep, but unbeknownst to all of them, what she heard earlier that night would prevent her from getting any rest that night.

oxoxoxo

Curtis Marlow watched as Jaune Arc let out a heavy sigh before picking up his books and following Cardin Winchester out of class. For a reason beyond him, the young knight was working on his assignment on the culture of Mistral with the brute that beat him rather than with his team, and judging by the looks of confusion, question and longing from his team, they would rather he worked with them. And to make matters worse, this had been happening for nearly two weeks now. Marlow stood in the empty classroom wondering just what was going on.

"Interesting isn't it?"

The question from seemingly nowhere would have made anyone else jump out of their skin, but Marlow didn't even turn to face the voice as he said "Do you have to be here Erik?"

"No." Erik Fantine replied "But I'd like to be, it makes talking with you that much easier. I know you've noticed that over the past few days, Arc and Winchester have grown much closer, rather confusing considering just how badly the two of them have gotten on in the past."

"I'm sure there's some point to this, Erik."

"Calm down, Curtis. I'm getting to it." Fantine pulled out his scroll and opened a page containing the grades of his students, pulling up the recent marks of Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. "Evidently, Arc gave in to some threat of Winchester's, likely something violent, and has been forced to work for him. That would explain his drop in grades and Winchester's rise on his recent report on Beowolves."

"Well we have to do something then." Said Marlow, rising to his feet, but yet almost sensing the comment his partner was about to make.

"Should we really do that?"

Marlow instantly turned and shot a disbelieving glare to his colleague. "Why would we not? He's our student, and he's under possible threat of violence."

Fantine seemed to consider this for a moment. Part of Marlow wanted to believe he was actually considering helping Jaune. But then he spoke. "If you choose to help him, you're only proving me right that this boy shouldn't be here." Before Marlow could object, the phantom chose to explain himself "If the boy cannot deal with threats by this brute, why should he be here? A true huntsman would deal with the problem himself, rather than running to someone else to fix his problems for him. If you help him then, you only prove my point that the boy cannot stand on his own and therefore does not belong at this academy."

Marlow clenched his fists. The desire to slug Fantine in the face was strong, but he knew that wouldn't end well. Instead, the veteran grabbed his belongings and stormed out of the class. The enraged professor didn't even look where he was going as he stalked through the halls of Beacon Academy on autopilot. How could Fantine even suggest something like that? It was ridiculous. Wasn't it? That's when it hit him: why couldn't Jaune fight? With everything he had seen and read about the Arc family, they were a clan of heroes, fierce fighters able to beat nearly everything that stood before them.

_Nearly everything... _He thought bitterly.

Marlow looked up with a sigh, unsurprised at where he had ended up. Standing in front of him was the statue of Beacon's courtyard. He looked up at the statue, the familiar features evoking memories he would rather forget. He had never met this man before, but he knew who it was. He was the hero of old, the man who led the forces of human and faunus kind against the largest army of Grimm to rise since the discovery of dust. Still, Marlow looked down to the name plate and read the bronze writing.

_**Charles Magnus Arc  
**__Hero of Vytal_

Marlow let out another sigh at this. The blood of the family was strong, he knew that personally, but why didn't it appear in this newest son of the blood? _Perhaps Erik was right. _He thought. _Maybe greatness skips a generation._

oxoxoxo

"How come Jaune gets home so late?"

Pyrrha looked away from the dorm window to see Nora jumping on her bed, waiting for an answer to her question. If only she could answer it. Pyrrha knew why Jaune was upset recently, having heard his secret after he confessed it to her, but she was still struggling to find out what that had to do with Cardin. How did he figure into all of this, and what was he doing to keep Jaune in his service. And that was only one thing bugging her, the other came in the form of her rival. Normally, Maria would save her looks of ire only for her, the one person to defeat her in battle, but recently, for the past two weeks since Jaune was with Cardin, she had spared a few especially nasty glares for her leader.

"He's become rather scarce since he's been fraternizing with Cardin." Said Ren, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"That's wierd." Said Nora, still bouncing. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow. We need out REST!" said Nora, executing a mid air flip and landing back first on her bed.

Jaune watched from the partially opened door as Pyrrha replied "I'm sure our leader knows _exactly _what he's doing." Her voice filled with a venom that made Jaune feel even worse about what he had done.

Jaune could tell she didn't want him around right now, so he shut the door, preparing to go for a nice, long walk, clear his head and maybe come back when Pyrrha was asleep. That would be less embarrassing for both of them.

"Hey Jaune!"

The startled knight jumped in surprise before turning to see Ruby behind him. "Long time, no see!" said the scythe wielder. "Did you lock yourself out again?"

To his credit, Jaune pulled himself together rather well. "Oh, uh... No!" he said, still unable to look Ruby in the eye. "Got it!" he said, producing his scroll.

"So," Ruby continued "Where have you been lately?"

"I uh..." Jaune began, unsure of where to go with this. Part of his conscious was telling him to run away, make up some excuse and make a break for it. Then another part of his mind kicked in. This was Ruby, she was a friend. If anyone could be trusted, it was her. "I messed up." Jaune confessed "I did something I shouldn't have and now Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't even talk to me..." The words just fell from Jaune's mouth as he tried to keep as many details out as possible. He trusted Ruby, but he wasn't sure if she should be told that much... "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." The knight collapsed against his door and sunk to the gound. "I'm a failure..." he muttered.

"Nope." Was the instant response.

"No?" Jaune questioned.

"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure."

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Hmm..." Ruby thought aloud "Nope."

Jaune let out a short chuckle. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope." Replied Ruby. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, you might have even been a failure the first day we met, but you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uh... Because..."

"Because it's not just about you anymore." Ruby interrupted. "You've got a team now Jaune. We both do. And if we fail we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first and ourselves second."

Jaune hung his head in shame. He hadn't been doing any of that ever since Cardin started threatening to divulge his secret.

"Your team deserves a great leader Jaune." Ruby continued, moving to her dorm. "And I think that can be you. Have a good night Jaune." She said, closing the door.

Jaune hauled himself to his feet. Now he really needed to think. That walk would be really helpful right now. That was when his scroll rang. The knight pulled it out and opened it to see a new message from his tormentor. _"Hey, it's your buddy Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you, buuuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of rapier wasps." _Jaune cringed at the thought. But the message wasn't over. _"And make sure they've got some REALLY big stingers. It's important, so don't screw this up!" _

Jaune put away his scroll and let out a sigh. Looks like his walk would be longer than he thought. And more painful. A look of defeat on his face, Jaune Marched down the hallway. He really had failed his team now. He was only thinking of himself.

oxoxoxo

The next morning, the teams of hunters in training had left for the forest of Forever Fall. Upon arriving, they walked out of the airship into the light of the sun, the vibrant orange and red of the trees and their leaves providing a welcome change from the mostly grey and black of Beacon's grounds and the fresh air being a pleasurable sensation to all the students.

That is, all but two.

Jaune Arc, for one, was unable to enjoy the forest for two reasons. The first came as he was trying to collect the sap he was assigned to gather. Some of the plants in the area were beginning to irritate him, clogging his sinuses and making him think he might be allergic to this stuff. Oh, and there was also the fact that he was being forced to collect all of Team CRDL's sap along with his own, plus an extra unexplained jar, making him do extra work in an area that was causing him pain, and reminding him of just how thoroughly Cardin now ruled his life as he was forced to do even the most menial of tasks for the brute.

The other was Maria Gaia. The information the centurion had discovered on Jaune was starting to eat her from the inside out, part of her wanting nothing more than to have the boy ejected from Beacon before he could truly embarrass himself or the school even further. However, another part said that she should give the boy a chance, and not just because her teammates were friends with him, but because he might _might_ have some potential, and having him expelled would extinguish any hope of him reaching that potential and destroy him from the inside. It was a choice she would have to make between her pride as a warrior and her respect as a leader.

"Maria?"

"Huh? What?" The centurion turned to see Alison standing behind her. "What is it?"

"Your jar is overflowing."

Maria looked down to see that her jar of tree sap had indeed overflowed and was now running over onto her hand. Now she knew things were getting worse when she was distracted from her assignments by these thoughts. She let out a heavy sigh and set about cleaning herself off. This was going to be a long day.

Or at least, that's what she thought.

oxoxoxo

Jaune had officially decided that this was the worst day of his life.

He had stumbled back into the clearing where Cardin and company sat, waiting for him. Jaune didn't know if Cardin had told his team about his lie, but he wasn't about to test it. The knight, wanting to quickly be done with the forest, put down the jars and collapsed onto his stomach, lying face down in the red earth. Maybe he could fake his own death and let Cardin just forget about him here.

"Hey," the knight in question said, ruining Jaune's thoughts of rest. "great work Jauney Boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"

Jaune hoisted himself up for just long enough to say "I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." before nearly falling again.

"Great, great, great." Cardin interrupted "So, Jaune, I'll bet you're asking yourself, 'why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune replied, struggling to his feet.

"Well," said the brute "come with me and you'll find out."

Jaune groaned as he got up to follow Cardin. Whatever the bully had planned, it was almost certainly going to be painful or humiliating, something Jaune had had just about enough of recently. He was beginning to wish he had just confessed his secret to Ozpin and gotten kicked out. His mom would be upset and he wouldn't live up to the legacy of his father, but at least he'd be away from Cardin for good.

But then, he'd also lose all the friends he'd made since he got here. His team, Team RWBY, Team EMAD, all of them, lost forever due to his cowardice and lies. No, he'd do this and live through the consequences. It was what he deserved.

Cardin held up a hand for Jaune and his teammates to stop once they reached a small, rocky outcropping a short distance above the area where the other teams were collecting sap. Jaune watched with a small amount of happiness as Pyrrha rose from beneath a tree with a jar full of sap, almost laughing as Nora drank an entire jar of the stuff before sheepishly smiling at her partner and getting him to re-fill the jar.

Then the smile vanished instantly as he realized whatever Cardin had planned would not end with him or anyone else smiling. "Cardin, what's going on?"

Cardin sneered at the teams below. "Payback."

Jaune followed Cardin's gaze to where it rested. The one person who believed in him this whole time, who offered to help him and he rejected. "Pyrrha? What-"

"That's the girl," Cardin confirmed "red hair, know it all, thinks she's so smart... And her too," Cardin said, pointing to Maria on the other side of the clearing. "Thinks she's so much better than us, thinks she can boss us around. Alright boys," Cardin said, pulling out an angrily buzzing cardboard box. "Last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps, and now we're going to put 'em to work." Jaune liked the sound of this less and less with every word. "Now, according to one of the essays he wrote me last week, these nasty things _love_ sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach one of them a thing or two." Cardin grabbed Jaune and hauled him to his feet. "And _you're _going to do it."

"Do what?" Jaune asked as the sixth jar of sap was pushed into his gut.

Cardin pointed down to the clearing. "Pick one of those girls and hit her with the sap." Before Jaune could retort, Cardin continued. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch and you'll be on the first Airship out of Beacon.

Jaune looked down at the jar in his hands and to the box of rapier wasps. He tore his eyes away from the box and looked down to the clearing. He had to choose, it was either Pyrrha or Maria. One of them would have to be sacrificed to continue his career as a student at Beacon. But which one? Were he to go with who he liked more he would have to hit Maria. He knew that she had a mean streak and that her team would never respect him again, but... No, that wouldn't be any good, she and her team were strong, they'd track him down and beat him until he felt every bit of pain she did. No, it would have to be Pyrrha. The only person other than Ruby who believed in him as a leader, the one who offered to help him even after he admitted to having lied his way into Beacon, the one who wanted to be on his team even on the first day, who saved him in his initiation and put up with him even through all his mistakes...

Then he realized something. There was a third option.

Jaune shut his eyes in defiance. "No." Jaune didn't even look behind him as Cardin spoke. He didn't even hear the bully. He was shaking in rage, clutching the jar that this... this... asshole had demanded he throw at his own teammate, at his friend. No, the knight was through with him. "I said NO!" he yelled, turning around and hurling the jar of sap at his tormentor. That was when he realized what he had done.

Cardin gave a short chuckle, his chestplate covered in sticky pink sap. "Oh, you've done it now." He said, advancing on the increasingly terrified knight.


	17. Forever Fall II

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 13**

oxoxoxo

The forest of Forever Fall was always a sight to behold. The trees were always a lovely shade of red and pink, and with the leaves always falling from the trees and blowing in the wind, the sky seemed to be painted pink. But more than that, the entire area simply exuded an air of serenity, a quiet and calm that one could not help but enjoy and absorb, making them feel relaxed.

Unfortunately, Glynda Goodwitch was not the type of person to be so easily pacified.

No, the professor was constantly on the lookout, her eyes every so often moving to a new area of the trees, looking for any sign of Grimm in the forest. She knew her students were hunters, and that they were being trained for just these kinds of monsters, but she also knew that there were more Grimm in these woods than she cared to think about. And she had a lot of students to watch over.

The sound of footsteps alerted her to a presence behind her. "You're late."

"Yes, well, I had to convince Ozpin I was stable enough to come back here." Curtis Marlow replied. Glynda had called him out to the forest to help her watch over the students, knowing that the veteran knew this forest like his own backyard having been here so often on campaign in the last Grimm incursion. A massive army of Grimm had invaded the kingdoms, killing hundreds at a time before retreating to their strongholds to attack again later. The situation had gotten so bad that the leaders of the kingdoms had assembled both their armies, and the finest hunters they could find.

One of those finest groups happened to be Marlow's team, the team who had tracked the Grimm back to the Forest of Forever Fall. The team had led a massive raid on the forest, tracing the Grimm to a cave at the forest's heart. The team and the army they brought with them had stormed the cave, pushing the monsters all into its heart before detonating a massive dust bomb, collapsing the cave's roof on top of them. It was the biggest success of the war, but it wasn't over yet.

It was, however, the reason that Glynda had chosen him, specifically to help her. Marlow had been on so many scouting missions into the forest that he now knew it better than most men alive. "You are okay with this forest, right Curtis?"

"Glynda, you and I both know what happened wasn't here." Marlow replied. "I'm fine."

"If you say so." The dust caster responded.

Marlow nodded before setting off. "I'm going to go check on the other students." He said, making for the trees. "You have me on your scroll, call if you need anything."

oxoxoxo

Jaune had thought before that this might have been the worst day of his life, but now he knew it was. Nothing in his life thus far was as bad as what was happening today and what would soon happen.

He reflected on this as Cardin threw him to the ground once again and he landed roughly on his back. He barely had time to groan in pain before Cardin hauled him up again before punching him right back down.

"You know that wasn't very smart Jauney boy." Cardin taunted, picking him up again to look him in the face. "I'm going to make sure they send you back home to mommy in teeny tiny pieces!"

Jaune wasn't sure if it was the head trauma or not, but all he could think about at the moment was how ridiculous Cardin looked covered in sap. He was afraid of this guy for months, and now he was about to have him thrown out of his dream school. There was nothing else he could do now. "I don't care what you do to me, but you are not messing with my team." He said, looking his new nemesis in the eye. Cardin was certainly going to have him thrown out, but the least he could do was to make sure his team wouldn't be harassed because of him.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough?" said Cardin, hoisting Jaune off his feet. "You think you're a big strong man now?"

Again, it might have been the head trauma or the knowledge that things could not possibly get any worse at this moment, but all Jaune could do was smile as Cardin got even angrier.

The black knight let out a growl of rage as he brought his fist back and swung it right into Jaune's jaw. Jaune closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

It never came.

Instead, Jaune felt himself falling to the ground as a strange ringing noise was heard. Opening his eyes, he saw a light that was glowing around the clearing and Cardin stumbling back holding his arm in pain. It was then that Jaune realized that _he _was the source of the glow, his hands still radiating with light. He then realized something else, something even more puzzling.

He didn't feel his bruises anymore.

Jaune didn't have long to think on this before one of Cardin's cronies kicked him back down into the dirt.

Jaune looked up, genuine anger in his eyes. The brute approached him, flanked by Thrush and Dove. "Let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin said, advancing on the knight.

That was when the roar was heard.

Loud, angry, monstrous, all of those and more would not have truly captured the sound that this beast made. It was a massive, dark creature, the distinctive white spikes and armour of the Grimm emerging all over it, eyes red and full of fury as it advanced on its newest prey. It was an Ursa Major.

And it looked hungry.

The monster advanced on the group, sniffing the air as it drew closer until it zeroed in on Cardin. No, not Cardin, the sap on his chestplate, Jaune realized.

The creature let out another ferocious roar and Cardin's men fled as fast as they could run.

Cardin was about to join them – he wasn't going to fight this thing alone – but the beast smacked him aside before he could run into the woods.

Jaune braced for the inevitable attack, but it never came. Daring to open his eyes, Jaune saw the monster advancing on a terrified looking Cardin.

oxoxoxo

Maria Gaia was just about done with today.

She still couldn't get the Arc dilemma off her mind, and being around the other teams was not helping. Deciding she wanted to take a walk, she informed her team and walked off.

"Maria!" the girl turned to see her partner approaching her, the rest of her team behind her. "You can't just go alone."

"She's right." Thatch added "This place is full of Grimm. I'd really like it if you didn't get mauled or eaten, after all, someone would find a way to blame that on me. Most likely him." He said, pointing to Francois.

"Hey!" The marksman indignantly replied.

"Don't act like you wouldn't mate."

Maria rolled her eyes and gave a snort of what might have been laughter before looking to her partner. She never could say no to that face. "Fine, if you insist."

The team spent the next few minutes hiking through the forest, always sticking to a single path to make their way back to the group later. They had left behind most of the noise of the other teams as they continued into the trees.

When they were far enough from the others, Alison decided it was time to ask what had been on her mind for some time now. "So, uh, Maria?"

"Yes?" the centurion replied.

"What's wrong?"

Those two words were definitely not what Maria expected. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been acting angry recently." Alison replied "And more than usual."

Maria was silent for a few seconds as she thought about her next words. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

Alison gestured to her eyes. "Accuracy. It's useful for more than just fighting you know."

"She's got a point." Said Thatch, backing Alison up. "You've been even grumpier than usual. No offence."

Without even looking at the renegade, she knew the impact she had just heard was Francois hitting him upside the head. Maria bit her lip. She should have guessed someone would notice that she was in a worse mood that usual. Knowing that not only did she have to stop what would certainly erupt into a fight and that she needed to get the information on Jaune off her chest, she turned to her team and sighed. "Alright, there's something I need to tell you."

Her team all looked to her and were silent. Maria could barely stand to look them in the eye with what she was about to tell them, but it had to be done, for her sake.

Maria opened her mouth to speak, but just as she opened it, a thunderous roar shook the forest.

The whole team turned in the direction of the roar.

"I really hope that wasn't you." Said Thatch.

oxoxoxo

Curtis Marlow had just finished checking on the students when he decided to take a walk.

Ozpin was right about one thing: this place was bringing back memories, but not the ones he worried about. No, they were memories of triumph those of victory in this very forest. He couldn't help but remember all the battles and the victories taking place in this forest, hunting Grimm within the trees with his team...

His team. They would never leave his thoughts, would they? After all the time they spent together, likely not, but was that such a bad thing? They were brothers in arms, heroes of Vale and skilled warriors.

Marlow was unfortunately dragged out of his thoughts by an earth shaking roar that echoed through the forest.

'_That's not good...'_ Marlow thought, unholstering his rifle and running in the direction of the roar. Taking a perch on a hillside above where he heard the roar, he saw something rather unfortunate. The monster was an Ursa Major, and it was bearing down on two of Beacon's students: Jaune and Cardin.

Part of Marlow wanted to grumble and wonder what stupid plan of Cardin's this was, but now was not the time. Someone would die if something was not done. Aiming down the scope of his rifle, Marlow brought the creature's head into his line of fire. '_Goodnight.' _He thought.

Too soon, it seemed, as the monster smacked Cardin away and immediately followed after its prey, unknowingly putting a large tree between itself and him. '_Damn.'_

Springing up, Marlow tried to find a new shot, but there was always something in the way, if not a tree than Cardin himself.

'_I'll need to move in closer...'_

oxoxoxo

Team RWBY and what was left of JNPR were collecting the remains of their sap when the roar shook the forest., causing all of them to turn in its direction. "Did you guys hear that?"asked Ruby.

Before anyone could answer, the fleeing members of Team CRDL charged through the clearing. "Ursa! Ursa!" Screamed Russel Thrush as he ran for his life.

Unfortunately he ran right into Yang, who immediately hauled him to his feet and questioned him. "What? Where?"

"Back there!" said Thrush, pointing to where they had come from and desperately trying to get free. "It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha dropped her jar of sap in shock. "Jaune!"

Ruby heard her shock and instantly drew _Crescent Rose. _"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch!"

Pyrrha and Weiss drew their weapons as well, Pyrrha calling to her team "You two go with them. There could be more."

The huntresses immediately took off where CRDL had come from, but arrived to a less than pleasant sight. The Ursa Major was bearing down on a fleeing Cardin, leaping over him to swat him with a claw and send him sprawling on the ground. Cardin scrambled to his knees and made to flee, but the Ursa quickly caught up with him. The monster raised its claw to deliver the final blow.

_CLANG!_

Ruby was surprised. Weiss was shocked. Pyrrha was impressed.

Cardin, on the other hand, could barely believe it. Jaune had jumped in front of the attack, his shield catching the beast's claw. Not only that, but the awkward knight was pushing the beast back.

Pyrrha saw Weiss raise _Myrtenaster_, but held out a hand to stop her. "Wait." Said the Amazon.

The Ursa was reaching for Jaune with its other claw, but Jaune seemed to notice this, as he shoved the monster back with his shield before slashing at it with a swing of his sword. The creature stumbled back, wounded but still very much alive. And angry.

oxoxoxo

"Quick, shoot it!" Ordered Maria.

Francois looked down the scope of his rifle. "_Merde..." _he muttered "Jaune is in the way, I can't get a good shot."

"Fine, Alison you take the shot." Said the Centurion.

The artist shook her head. "Anything I have that can hit it would be explosive. Jaune and Cardin would be caught in it."

Maria grumbled something under her breath before giving another order. "Thatch, Francois, the two of you stay up here and wait for a better shot. Alison, you and I will go down there to assist Jaune." '_He'll need it.'_

Thatch and Francois nodded as their leader and her partner took off.

'_I may not like Jaune,' _Maria thought _'but I can't just let him die.'_

oxoxoxo

Jaune's fight with the Ursa was starting to go badly. While he was mostly able to dodge the monster's attacks, a good hit could be all it needed to kill him. And the beast was only getting angrier.

Jaune leapt over a slash from its paw only to be caught by another one, sending him crashing to the ground. Surprisingly, he barely felt any pain. _'Whatever happened earlier, it's still working.' _He thought as he scrambled to his feet, immediately charging the Ursa. The angered beast didn't seem to appreciate this though, as it swatted him aside, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Jaune hauled himself to his feet to the sound of beeping form his scroll. Jaune cast his eyes down to the device to see that his aura was rapidly falling. The Ursa didn't seem to care though as it charged to him, ready for the kill. Jaune knew this could be it. It was just him and the monster.

Fear was crushed by an adrenaline rush as Jaune made what could easily be his last charge, letting out a war cry as he met the Ursa's attack with one of his own.

From the sidelines, Pyrrha watched the battle. Jaune was making his move, but so was the Ursa. Time seemed to slow as both fighters neared each other, but Pyrrha could already see how this would end. Jaune's shield was too low and the claw of the beast was heading right for his head. He was going to die.

It was then that Pyrrha had an idea. Calling upon her semblance, she subtly raised Jaune's shield with her mind.

Jaune caught the beast's attack on his shield, the force of the blow sending him to one knee beneath the monster. It stumbled after the attack, giving Jaune the perfect opening. With a single stroke of his family's sword he severed the Ursa's head.

oxoxoxo

Maria and Alison arrived just in time to see Jaune decapitate the Ursa. On his own. With no toher hunters to help him. Sure, Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha were on the sidelines, but Maria could see that it was only Jaune on the battlefield.

She could scarcely believe it. Jaune arc, the stow away to Beacon, the boy who had never won a fight and who had _lied _his way into this school had just taken down a C ranked Grimm on his own, and in the defence of the boy who had tormented him since the start of classes.

'_Maybe he does deserve to be here...' _Maria thought to herself _'I'll give him some time to prove himself before I make any judgements.'_

Maria beckoned for Alison to follow her. "Come on, we'd better pick up the boys and get back to the other students before someone comes looking for us."

Alison nodded and followed, her pinpoint accuracy noticing a slight raising of Maria's face as she left. The artist didn't know what it was, but something had just taken a weight off her leader's shoulders.

oxoxoxo

None of the students had noticed the red cloaked figure of their professor among the trees. Marlow gave a slight smirk at the demonstration Jaune had just given.

'_Maybe the boy is a good fighter after all.' _He thought _'Maybe he just needs some practice against other hunters. Either way, maybe he'll do the family well after all.'_

oxoxoxo

That night when the students returned to Beacon, Jaune was quick to leave all the praise for defeating the Ursa behind and slip away from the crowds. He knew exactly where he wanted to be, and hoped that someone else would guess that he was there.

As he looked off into the distance from the roof where he had confessed to Pyrrha, admiring the school he was still lucky enough to be a part of, he heard something that confirmed he made the right choice. "No Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked, coming up behind him. "I thought you two were best buds." She said, a small smile on her face.

Jaune could barely stand to look her in the eye after what he had said and done to her and the rest of his team. He had lied to them, abandoned them and when she offered to help him he pushed her away. Summoning up his courage, he turned to his partner, looking her right in the eye. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry." He said, trying desperately to keep his voice from cracking. "I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and... I had all this stupid, macho stuff in my head-"

"Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted. "It's okay."

That brought a smile to Jaune's face, one that he and Pyrrha happily shared.

"Your team really misses their leader, you know." Said Pyrrha, breaking the silence. She turned to the door to the roof. "You should come down." She said as she walked off "Ren made pancakes." She said in a sing-song voice. "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

Right as Pyrrha got to the door Jaune called after her. "Wait!" Pyrrha stopped as she reached for the door and turned to Jaune. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me..." Jaune paused, gathering his courage. "To help me become a better fighter." He said, standing as tall as he could. When Pyrrha turned away he thought it was all over, but soon enough she turned and walked right up to him.

Then she pushed him over.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly.

"Your stance is all wrong." Said Pyrrha, standing over him, hands on her hips and a smile on her face. "You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She hauled the knight to his feet, and pulled him to face level, holding on to his hand the whole time. "Let's try that again.


	18. Aftermath

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 14**

oxoxoxo

As that day drew to a close, the students of Beacon returned to the school, eager for a reprieve from the day's excitement. Some, however, just couldn't realx just yet. "I still can't believe that happened today." Said Thatch as he and Francois walked the halls of Beacon.

"I know what you mean, _mon ami,_" the nobleman replied "Who would have known Jaune could do something like that. I respect him, but I always saw him as more of a leader and less of a fighter, _tu comprends?_"

"I know what you mean." Thatch replied "After seeing him get right pounded by Cardin in combat class, I didn't think he'd be able to do anything like that."

The two turned a corner in the hallway leading out to the courtyard as they continued to talk. "You have to admit, unlikely or not, it was very impressive." Francois continued. "And _peut – être, _Cardin may just leave him be now."

"Here's hoping," Thatch concurred "the guy could use a break from him."

"_Vraiment, mon ami." _Francois said. He then stopped mid stride and held out a hand for his partner to do the same. "Just a moment, do you hear that?"

Thatch snorted. "Very funny noble boy, not falling for it."

Had the renegade been wearing his combat attire, Francois would have hit him in the hat and knocked it over his eyes, but since they were in their Beacon uniforms he settled for hitting his partner upside the head. "Listen." He hissed.

Thatch rolled his eyes and listened for himself. "Footsteps?"

Francois nodded. "Sounds like just one person. I wonder who else is out tonight."

His partner shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go find out."

The two boys set out after the footsteps, quickly finding the source walking slowly away from them down a nearby hallway. It was a somewhat short girl in the standard Beacon uniform with brown hair reaching down her neck. As she walked, she would occasionally kick at the floor with what appeared to be frustration. However, what made the huntsmen immediately recognize her were the two rabbit ears emerging from her head.

Francois was the first one to speak. "Velvet?"

The faunus girl turned at the voice, her posture immediately shifting from one of frustration to surprise, her left arm jumping up to grab her right, before she saw who had called to her and calmed down. "Oh, hi guys."

"What are you doing out so late?" Asked Francois.

"I could ask you the same thing." The faunus girl replied.

"My partner and I go for walks every so often." Francois explained "It helps to calm down after an eventful day."

Velvet nodded in understanding. "I suppose a lot did happen today. I heard about Jaune and the Ursa. I hope he's alright."

"Trust me," said Thatch "_Jaune _is fine. The Ursa, on the other hand, needs a new head."

Velvet gave a small smile at that before turning back to the nobleman. For some reason, Francois wasn't sure why, she wouldn't look him in the eye, but instead was looking down at her feet while once again kicking at the floor. "I suppose I should tell you why I'm out here then."

Francois put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, making what he could see of the girl's face turn a slight shade of red at his action. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Velvet was silent for a second before she looked up at him. "It's nothing too bad..." she said softly. "I kind of..."

"Kind of?"

"... I locked myself out of my room and now the teachers have to get me back in..."

Francois quickly smacked Thatch upside the head before he could laugh. "An honest mistake." He said with a slight smirk. "So you have a little while before you can go back then?"

Velvet gave a small nod. "Could I maybe join the two of you for the time being?"

Francois shrugged before turning to his partner who did the same. "I suppose that's _oui madame."_

The rabbit faunus smiled before resuming her walk, no longer looking frustrated or worried, but almost content. The look on her face was the icing on what had been a good day for the nobleman. Maybe now she would trust him. Maybe now she could trust other humans. Maybe not the second one, but this was a step in the right direction.

That was when a ringing scroll interrupted them. "Hang on a second." Thatch said, stopping to pull out his scroll. He opened it, and opened a message reading over the screen for a few seconds. "Sorry, we've got to go. Maria wants us to head back to the dorm for tonight."

Velvet's face fell at his words, but seemed to rise again as Francois spoke as well. "You go ahead; I'll walk Velvet to her room _pour la nuit." _

Thatch shrugged. "Your funeral mate." He said as he typed a message into his scroll and walked off.

With the renegade headed down the hall, Francois gestured in the other direction. _"Après vous, madame." _

Velvet giggled before walking off, the nobleman following her at a brisk pace.

It was nice to just go for a walk with her, Francois realized. To just be worried about where they were going and how to get there was much more enjoyable than comforting her when Cardin and his thugs had harassed her.

"Uh, Francois?" Velvet piped up.

"_Oui madame?"_

"When we first met you told me you didn't want to see people hurt by ignorance and hatred, but you never told me why. Can you tell me now?"

The marksman let out a heavy sigh. He knew he would have to tell her eventually. "It began when I was much younger and had just started my training as a huntsman. My father wanted nothing to do with it at the time, but my mother was in favour of my desire to defend the people, so she paid for tutors to come to our estate and teach me the way of the sword and marksmanship."

"What does this have to do with what you said before?" the rabbit enquired.

"I'm getting to that." Francois replied "My first tutor was undoubtedly my best. His name was Lucius Severus, a master swordsman and sniper to whom I owe many of my skills today. He taught me from the time I was eight years old until I was fourteen."

"Why did he stop?" Velvet wondered aloud.

Francois sighed yet again. "It was at that point that he told me something. Something I was never to tell anyone else. The man was a faunus, and not just a faunus, but a former member of the White Fang. He pulled back his long hair from his neck and showed me the scales that lay there. The man was a serpent."

Velvet was surprised. She never would have believed a member of the White Fang would have spent so long around a human noble child and left him alive. "What happened then? What did you do?"

"Nothing." Francois replied simply. "What he had done in the past was of no concern to me, and the fact that he hadn't killed me in the six years he had tutored me was reason for me to trust him. I truly believed he had left the White Fang behind. Unfortunately, I found out that my father thought differently."

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked "How did he find out?"

"Not trusting someone to be alone with his son, my father installed security cameras in the training room." Francois said, clenching his fist. "They recorded Severus' confession and before the end of the week, he was taken by the police and brought before a court of law. Severus confessed to his part in the White Fang, assassinating key enemies of the organization, from faunus hating humans to witnesses they didn't trust. He confessed to it all." The nobleman was quiet for a few seconds before he started speaking again. "He made a deal with the judge after that, promising to reveal the names of those he had worked with in exchange for a reduced sentence and protection by the police. The judge agreed, but the night before he was supposed to deliver the names, everything went wrong."

Velvet was almost afraid to ask. "What happened?"

The nobleman grimaced at the thought of what happened next. "I found out the next day that members of the White Fang had killed Severus in his cell, cutting his throat in the middle of the night and leaving him to bleed out."

Neither one spoke after that, leaving a deafening silence for a few moments. Moments that felt like a lifetime to both of them.

"My father truly believed Severus was a criminal." Francois said "He told me once after that, 'these animals want us dead, don't trust them.' I refused to believe him. If he had wanted me dead, he would have killed me as we trained. He could have easily made it look like an accident too." A small smirk came upon the face of the nobleman, a bitter smile with no good humour in it. "I shudder to think what my father would do if he saw me with you."

Francois could have sworn what he heard from Velvet after that was a snort of laughter.

"Cardin's behaviour toward you may not have been as severe as what my father did, but it is just as cruel." Francois explained. "It's just as wrong."

The two then walked in silence until they reached Velvet's room. "Well _madame, _here we are."

Velvet looked up to the face of the nobleman. "Thank you for everything Francois." She said, eyes suddenly becoming locked on the floor.

Francois merely smiled to her and tilted her head up to look at him. _"Pour vous, madame, _it is my pleasure." He said with a small bow.

Velvet looked him in the eye after that, the two of them standing there in silence for what felt like an eternity before she moved. Taking a step forward, the faunus girl wrapped the marksman in a gentle embrace, surprising both of them with the action.

Surprised, it took Francois a second to respond, but he eventually did, returning the hug.

oxoxoxo

On the other side of the school, Curtis Marlow closed the runed door to his office and sat down at his desk. Removing a small key from his belt, he reached for the bottom drawer of the desk, a long, thin one that ran the length of the desk. He had just inserted the key when he suddenly stopped, narrowing his eyes and sitting back up. "I know you're there." He said to the seemingly empty room. "How many times have you tried this now?"

A low chuckle was heard before Erik Fantine stepped out of the shadows. "Oh, several now." He said "You always seem to catch me though. Years of practice I suppose."

"Yes, I guess so." Mused Marlow. "Now, unless there's something you want to tell me, I suggest you leave."

"I merely wish to talk, old friend." The phantom replied. "I hear your favourite student managed to prove his worth today. Almost got mauled by an Ursa though. I thought he'd turn and run, but I guess he's made of sterner stuff than I thought."

"I guess so." Marlow agreed "Now leave."

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?" Fantine questioned.

"No." The veteran answered, not missing a beat. "Now leave."

"No? Really?" Fantine continued, still not making any motion to leave. "You didn't offer any help to the boy you see as a monument to the glory of your past?"

"Jaune will rise or fall by his own merits," Marlow responded "Not by those of his family."

"Oh, I'm sure, he won't be helped at all by his now dead family, and certainly not by his-"

"Weren't you in the middle of leaving?"

"And," Fantine continued "whether or not you're helping him, you have to tell him eventually."

"I will, but not now." Marlow replied, an edge of finality in his voice. "Now leave."

Fantine shrugged and made for the door. "Just remember," he said, pausing at the door "you do hold his inheritance. And the reason he should have it."

"I'll tell him later. You need to leave though. Now."

The phantom shook his head and muttered something under his breath before he left, the runed door making barely a sound as he closed it behind him.

Marlow stared angrily at the door long after his colleague had left before he finally decided the phantom was gone. Satisfied, he let out a deep breath, his anger diminishing but not fading. He should have known Fantine would accuse him of something like this. The phantom knew he wanted Jaune to succeed, and the reason why, as well as the reason he didn't want to face the boy himself.

And he knew exactly what he had kept from the boy.

Looking down, he saw the key was still in the lock to his drawer. Taking a deep breath, he turned the key in the lock and pulled open the drawer. The contents let out a faint glow, lighting up the room and chasing off the shadows in the corners. Marlow made a motion to lay a hand on the contents, but stopped himself before he could, averting his eyes from what lay within and pushing the drawer shut. He didn't deserve it. He never would.

oxoxoxo

It wasn't too long of a walk back to the room, but for Thatch it took longer than it should have. He was about halfway back when he became distracted.

"Hey, Thatch!"

The renegade turned to the voice to see Yang calling to him. "Yang, it's been a while, how have you been?"

"I've been alright, my sister leads a good team, what about you?" Yang replied.

Thatch shrugged. "I can't complain, you know, aside from the whole 'facing death on a pretty regular basis' thing."

Yang chuckled at the response. "Well, that was sort of in the contract when you agreed to come here."

Thatch opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out, causing Yang to laugh even more.

"So," said Yang, after calming down. "I hope you've been going to class this year. You know what'll happen if you don't."

"Relax Yang." Thatch replied "You're in most of my classes anyway, so you know I'm there. Besides, if I didn't show up, you'd have to compete with my fearless leader for the right to kill me."

Yang clapped the swordsman on the back, a normally friendly gesture that could snap a weaker man's back, but not this one. "So you're saying I _shouldn't _tell her about our past?"

Thatch snorted. "I think she already knows."

"Is she mad?" Yang inquired.

"No, I don't think so." Thatch replied. "At least, she hasn't brought it up yet."

Yang slapped him on the back again. "Then that's a good thing, right?"

"I suppose." Thatch replied, steadying himself after the hit.

"Come on," Yang playfully begged "Don't be so serious. What happened to the guy I met at signal?"

Thatch rolled his eyes again. "He's still here. Not much has changed."

"Even so, it is great that we're back in class together." Yang said, wrapping her arms around Thatch. That action, however simple brought out a nostalgic smile in the renegade, who responded in kind.

Little did they know, however, that they were being watched. Looking quietly from around a corner was a girl in Beacon's uniform with black hair, green eyes and a single strand of green in her hair matching her eyes. Having been making her way back to Team EMAD's dorm room, Alison had just happened to walk upon the conversation at the exact wrong time, namely when Thatch and Yang had started to refer to a 'her.' Even with her limited social experience, she had a pretty good idea of who this girl was. Maybe she really didn't have a chance. Maybe she should have just focused on her studies instead of on... someone else...

That thought in mind, Alison quietly slunk away, deciding on a different route back to the dorm. Despite what she might have wanted, she would give the two their space.

Little did she know, had she decided to stay for more of the conversation, her spirits would have been considerably lifted.

"Don't get too close Thatch." Yang playfully warned. "I already told you no."

Thatch's only response was his trademark smirk. "Oh, you made that abundantly clear when I tried before. I'm not doing that any time soon. Although..."

"Although?"

"It's nothing, just a bit of a personal problem."

"Oh, come on, tell me." The blonde insisted, slapping him on the back for a third time. "You can't say no to this face."

"Alright, fine." Thatch conceded "Just stop the back slaps, I'd like to keep my spine intact."

"Deal, now spill it."

Thatch let out a sigh. "You've met the rest of my team."

"Yeah, what about them?" The brawler responded.

"Well, there's a certain person on my team who I've, shall we say, grown fond of."

"Is it your partner?"

"What? No! Why would you even say that?"

Yang could only smirk. "For that reaction."

Thatch mumbled something under his breath. "You're evil, you know?"

"I've been told, now come on, who is it?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Well, it's not your partner, and I don't think even _you _are crazy enough to go after your leader, so that only leaves one option."

"Congratulations, you figured it out." Thatch mockingly announced. "Only problem is, I think I've done something to make her mad at me, she barely speaks to me anymore."

"Ouch." said Yang.

"And I don't even know what I did."

Yang put a hand on Thatch's shoulder comfortingly. "Give her some time. You should know she can get pretty shy. Maybe it's just nerves."

Thatch looked his old friend in the eye. "Thanks for the advice, Yang."

The brawler gave him another slap on the back, this one sending Thatch to the ground. "Anytime... Sorry..."

The only response was a groan of pain.

oxoxoxo

**Well, that brings this part of the story to a close. For the next few chapters, expect to see my own material before I start going back to the actual RWBY story. There are some issues that need to be resolved before that can happen.**

**Until then, please review. Come on guys, I know people read this. Review so I know what you guys like and what you don't.**


	19. Revelations

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 15**

oxoxoxo

With things at beacon returning to normal (or, at least as normal as a school full of students with extremely dangerous weapons could get), everyone was falling back into what could be called a routine. Jaune was definitely the most appreciative of this change, seeing as he no longer needed to worry about Cardin, and life in general had become much more predictable and tame. No more being stuck in a door by his shield, no more having books knocked out of his grasp, no more being launched out of the school in his own locker, and most importantly, no more blackmail. No, with Cardin now owing him his life, the bully had been shamed into not saying a word about Jaune's forged documents. And with the end of Cardin's bullying came another positive change: Maria, the one girl in all of Beacon he was too scared to flirt with, was now glaring at him a lot less. Maybe standing up to Cardin and the Ursa had earned some of her respect? Who knows, who cares, at least she didn't always look like she wanted him dead now.

Speaking of not being dead, his training with Pyrrha was definitely a good thing to add to his routine. Yes, even with the past two months of training with the Amazon he was still unable to land a blow, and yes, he would end most of the sessions flat on his back and covered in bruises, but he was at least getting better. He felt stronger, smarter, and most importantly, more confident with his blade. Even if Nora would accuse them of... certain extra activities after their training sessions, Ren was usually able to quiet her down, making the hammer wielder much easier to handle.

Unfortunately, there was one aspect to the new routine that Jaune could easily do without: the same problem that had plagued him since the end of the initiation. What was Marlow's problem with him? Even after months at this school, the red coated professor refused to acknowledge his presence. For the first month of classes he'd been willing to dismiss it as something the professor would eventually get over, and his blackmailing by Cardin had only served to distract him from the situation. Now, with his problem with Cardin solved, the situation with Marlow had grown steadily more irritating to the point where Jaune was starting to get seriously annoyed.

"_I do know you." _Marlow had said after the initiation. How? From what? When? Yes, he seemed familiar, but Jaune couldn't place from where. Now, however, he was determined to find out.

Class had ended for the day as Jaune stormed towards Marlow's office, the runed door getting closer with every step. It was time for some answers.

Or, at least, that was Jaune's plan, until he was reminded of what happened the last time he was here. Before his eyes, the hallway seemed to extend in front of him, the room getting further away by the second. Jaune stumbled to a stop as the lights in the hallway began to dim around him, the air beginning to feel colder as the area took on a slight blue tinge, shadows creeping along the walls as the darkness deepened.

A shadow flashed across his field of view, sending him falling to the ground in shock.

"Did I not tell you that this man was not to be disturbed by you?" a voice spoke out, the same one that had spoken to him the last time he was here. "I told you I would know if you did, boy."

"Must have slipped my mind?" Jaune squeaked.

"You shouldn't be here, boy." The voice boomed, it's layers echoing in his head as a whisper seemed follow it. "Leave at once!"

"Enough!" called out a new voice. Jaune turned to see Marlow standing behind him, an expression of anger mixed with determination on his face. "Stop these games, Erik."

Before Jaune could demand an answer, the hallway returned to its normal state, the light returning, the blue tinge vanishing and the hall returning to its normal length. "Very well Curtis." The knight turned to see standing in front of him was Erik Fantine, the caped professor giving a shake of his head before walking off.

"Blasted phantom..." Marlow muttered, walking over to Jaune and offering him a hand. Jaune accepted the offer, and was hauled to his feet. "I assume there's a reason you're here Jaune."

"I, uh, well, you see..." Jaune stammered, trying to formulate a way to say what he wanted to.

"Oh, for the love of – spit it out already!"

"How do you know me?" the knight blurted out all at once.

Marlow looked away from him. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!" Jaune nearly yelled, his anger and newfound confidence allowing him to stand up to a man of Marlow's status. "After the initiation you told me you knew me, but you didn't say how, and ever since then you've been ignoring me at every turn. I'm tired of this. I want to know why you hate me."

Marlow sighed before turning back to the knight. "Jaune, step into my office. I can't hide what you deserve to know from you forever." With that, Marlow stepped over to his office door and pulled it open. "Come, there is something you must know about me."

Jaune cautiously stepped into the office, looking around the room at the walls, each one painted red and adorned with the head of a different Grimm, a weapon lying beneath it.

"Impressed?" Marlow asked. "They're trophies from the first Grimm I ever killed as a huntsman, the weapon used to slay the beast immortalized beneath it." Jaune nodded "Marlow let out a sigh. I'd share their stories with you, but that's not why you're here. No, you're here for a different story. Take a seat and we'll begin." Marlow said, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. Jaune took the seat as Marlow took his behind the desk. The professor let out a sigh before speaking again. "Jaune, you're an Arc, that's how I know you."

A mask of disbelief came across Jaune's face at this line. "Are you kidding me? You only know my family's name?"

"If only it were that simple." Marlow replied. "Tell me something Jaune, how much do you know of your father?"

Jaune thought about that for a moment, unable to form much of an answer. That was troubling. The man was his father, the man who gave him life, but he barely knew him. The man had left home when Jaune was five, leaving him, his mother, and his sisters. His mother had said that he was only away on a mission, and would return some day, but that excuse only grew flimsier every year. What memories he had of the man were few and far between; a smile, a head of golden hair, a presence of strength, but that was all.

"I assume your mother told you he left on a mission and he'll be back some day." Marlow said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Well, that's partly true. He did leave on a mission."

"How do you know?" Jaune demanded, a thousand theories already forming in his head.

Marlow didn't answer verbally; instead, the veteran reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small photograph. He looked at it for a moment before handing it to Jaune. The knight looked over the picture, seeing that it was of four hunters in full combat attire. The man to the far right was obviously Marlow, even with his hair longer, it was impossible to miss the iconic red coat and twin sabres at his belt. Next to him was a woman in a full suit of bronze armour, a red crested helm atop her head. She had a huge round bronze shield in her left hand and a glowing red shortsword in her right. Next to her was a wall of a man in a blue coat trimmed with yellow, a mane of gold hair framing his bearded face as he held his lance and stared into the distance. Finally, a figure Jaune recognized stood at the end of the line. Covered head to toe in white armour trimmed with gold, his blonde hair and goatee making his face seem to glow. Under his left arm he held a helmet of the same material as his armour, and in his other hand was a longsword that seemed to glow from within with a bright light.

Jaune looked at the last man before speaking to the professor, his eyes never leaving the image. "Is that who I think it is?"

A tiny, sad smile made its way onto Marlow's face as he replied. "Yes Jaune. The leader of my team was your father, Arthur Arc.


	20. Revelations II

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 16**

**oxoxoxo**

Jaune could only stare at the picture in his grasp. There was no doubting it; that was his father at the head of Marlow's team, standing tall (or as tall as he could compared to the man next to him) and proud, his sword drawn and armour donned.

"Team Argentum." Said Marlow, pointing out the bottom of the photo where beneath each hunter was a letter, spelling out AGTM. "We were considered to be one of the best teams for any mission, all of us highly skilled, lethal and able to work together in even the hardest of times. We were as close as teammates could get."

"What happened?" asked Jaune "And what does this have to do with me?"

Marlow's face fell before it set in a grim line. "Ten years ago, the last Grimm Incursion occurred as Grimm poured out of their domains and into cities all over Vale. Our team was called in by Ozpin himself and Atlesian General Ironwood to hunt the creatures down and track down where they were coming from. The night before we embarked on our mission, Arthur invited us to visit with him and his family, get one last good night in before we were called into hell. With no family to my name, I came alone, but that was the night I met you and your sisters for the first time." A look of amusement crossed the veteran's face for a second before it returned to its set position. "Your mother welcomed us as if we were family, myself and our two teammates." Marlow's eyes took on a far off look as he thought about said teammates.

Marlow's office went silent as the professor delved into his memories of that night. "Can you tell me about them?" Jaune asked timidly.

Marlow nodded and gestured to the photo, first pointing out Jaune's father again. "Arthur Arc, leader of our team and master swordsman. The man could cleave a deathstalker in half with one swing of his sword."

"Did he use my grandfather's sword?" Jaune inquired.

"No," Marlow replied. "He had a sword forged specifically for his use. He said that your grandfather's sword already had its legend, so he would forge his own. He called upon one of the finest smiths in all of Vale to make the blade, calling upon a technique that to this day I still don't know. A brilliant leader and terrific fighter, he led us to victory against the Grimm."

"What about the other two?" Jaune asked.

"I was getting there." Marlow replied, pointing at the massive man in blue. "Gustav Leon, the most powerful man I've ever met. That lance of his could transform into a fifty calibre rifle that he could fire one handed. I saw another man attempt the same thing, but when he could barely lift it, and when he was able to fire it he broke his arm!" Marlow said, letting out a short chuckle at the memory. "He was one of the only faunus in the armed forces at the time, but because he was such a powerful warrior, they allowed him to join the team." Marlow let out another short chuckle. "They certainly didn't hire him for his social skills though, the man could barely speak to anyone, especially women. The only time he could handle himself was when he held a weapon." The professor shook his head. "I always wonder how he ever found a wife."

Marlow then pointed out the last of the team besides himself. "And lastly, Theresa Crete, the first woman I ever loved. The two of us became rather close, often stealing moments whenever your father wasn't looking. As much as we both respected your father, we were young and in love, certain that he wouldn't approve. We agreed to make sure he didn't find out, if not for each other, then for the team. Theresa was always useful for her semblance of detection, allowing her to track down anything from a particular Grimm to the entrance and exit of a structure, to the weak point of the largest Grimm." Marlow smiled awkwardly. "I've never looked at another woman quite like I did at her."

"So what happened that night at my family's house?" Jaune asked.

"Your mother welcomed us in and introduced us to you and your younger sisters." Said Marlow with a small smile. "It was almost comical the look on your face when she then sent you all to bed. We sat down to a home cooked meal made by her, discussing plans for the operation as we did. We didn't stay on that topic for long though, after all, your father had said, we had already discussed our plans at length that day, and if this was going to be our last night on earth, we were going to enjoy it."

"That does sound like something my dad might do." Said Jaune.

Marlow looked at the picture of his team for a moment, eyes lingering on the face of his leader and partner. "Indeed." He said softly. "The next morning we set out, boarding an airship full of troops headed for the Ognoc forest down by Mountain Glen. We had traced the source of the Grimm invasion to a cave within the forest, so the plan was to hit there and close the entrance down. We set out with one thousand troops, each one armed to the teeth. Each of us was put in command of our own force of men for the mission, each one prepared to sacrifice everything to stop this incursion." Marlow paused as his mind suddenly went back to that mission. The caves, the Grimm, the screams of his men. "Nothing could have prepared them for what we faced. Going down into the cave was easy enough. We led those men through the mouth of the cavern, each of us leading our own troop of men in. The first few nights we were largely left alone, only glimpsing the creatures of Grimm out of the corners of our eyes as we advanced to where we were to collapse the tunnel."

"What happened then?" Jaune asked.

"That night," said Marlow "we set several dust charges, enough to completely block the path and set out back to the surface. Theresa's semblance guided us, making sure we were on the right path. Arthur was sure something was wrong, however, so he asked me and a few of my men to scout ahead and make sure the path was clear. I agreed and took some soldiers ahead with me. It was only after a half hour of walking that we were attacked. The Grimm came from everywhere, roaring and screaming at us as they charged, claws and teeth bared and ready to kill. My men and I drew our weapons and fought back, but by the time the last of the creatures fell, I was the last man standing, my men all lying in pools of their own blood. I didn't even have time to mourn them before I bolted back to the rest of the group, fearing the worst. When I arrived back at the main camp, it was just as I had feared: it was a slaughter. The largest force of Grimm I had ever seen had attacked the camp, bodies were lying everywhere, the screams of the dying and the terrified echoing about the cavern, the sound of gunfire cutting through it as we fought back. When it was all over, my team was still alive, but we were down to a quarter of our original number of men." Marlow went silent as the events of that day raced back into his mind, the screams of his men now echoing in his head, their blood all over the ground, bodies twitching in agony. "We went into full retreat after the attack. Grimm had never been seen using anything even close to a strategy before, but that night they had done just that, ambushing a weakened army after days of walking. Since that day, we were attacked every night, each time losing more and more men until we emerged from the tunnel with only ten. Eager to leave the forest, the set up more dust charges at the entrance, and set off everything we had set, collapsing the tunnel into an impassable wall of rock."

"Wow..." Jaune muttered.

"We weren't out of the fire yet though." Marlow said. "After the mission, we called Ozpin to get us out of there, but we were denied. According Ironwood, the night before, Several Nevermores had emerged from the cave and were now patrolling the skies. They had tried to get an airship in to rescue us, but it had been torn apart by the beasts. We were on our own. That's when everything began to go wrong." Marlow went silent again, as familiar screams once again filled his mind. "The first one to go was Gustav. He summoned up all the courage he possessed and rallied all our remaining men to fight our way out of the forest. We moved toward the edge of the woods, staying within the trees to remain out of the sight of the Nevermores. It was when we were forced to cross the Ognoc river that we were forced out of the cover of the trees and into the eyes of the Grimm. Gustav said he would hold them off as the rest of us crossed, but as the men attempted to do so they were struck by a hail of feathers from one of the beasts. Those who weren't killed outright were wounded and drowned in the river. It was then that we knew we had to fight back or we'd never escape, but before the last beast fell, one last feather struck our lion right through the heart. He wasn't even able to scream as he was killed."

Marlow gave the lion a moment of silence before he continued. "The next was Theresa. The night after Gustav died, the remaining three of us set up camp and she agreed to take first watch. I offered to join her, but she declined. I can't help but wonder if I could have saved her if she had let me join her. It was during her patrol around the camp that she stumbled into the lair of a Goliath Widow. She screamed as she was caught in the web, alerting me and Arthur. We ran out to her, but just as we reached her, the beast bit her, injecting her with its venom. We managed to defeat it, but it was too late to save Theresa. The venom killed her slowly as we fought. I watched the light in her eyes dim as she slowly lost her strength."

The veteran went silent once again, a single tear falling from his eye as he remembered Theresa's face as the life left her eyes. Jaune was completely silent, almost not wanting to hear what happened to his father.

"Arthur and I were the last ones alive, the last remaining members of that fateful mission, the last ones to tell the tale of Ognoc forest." Marlow explained "By this point, we were battered, beaten and tired, but we had no choice but to keep walking and hope we could make it to the edge of the forest, knowing that if we stopped for the night, we would be easy prey for any hungry Grimm. We stopped for a short rest after a day of walking and called Ozpin and Ironwood again, the two of them agreeing to send us an airship since we had killed several Nevermores at the river, making the skies clear enough to send us a rescue. We were told that the ship would arrive within the next hour and to light a flare to signal our location. As we lit the flare and waited, we were attacked once again. Several of the largest Grimm we had yet seen emerged from the darkness of the trees, knocking them aside as they surrounded us once again. They didn't want anyone leaving this place. Summoning the last of our strength, Arthur and I sprung into action, making the first attack against the creatures. Several fell that night, but more and more kept on attacking. Before long, we were on our last legs, but so were they, only two more Grimm remaining: A Deathstalker and a King Taijitu. I went after the snake while your father attacked the bug." Marlow paused as images from that night, that last night flooded his mind, his head collapsing to the desk as he remembered. The veteran rose again as he continued the story. "The fight was a disaster. I cut the snake's head off, only to hear a scream from your father. The Deathstalker had crushed his legs with a claw and was raising its stinger for an attack. I was about to run after him when the King Taijitu's other head knocked me aside. When I got back to my feet, I only saw your father, lying under the carcas of the Deathstalker, its stinger in the ground next to his head and his sword embedded in that of the creature. That was when the snake struck. I tried to help, but all I could do was watch as it... as it..." Marlow's eyes shut as he was forced to remember that horrible moment. The serpent rearing up and striking just once, fangs piercing armour and flesh alike. The image of Arthur lying dead under the corpse of the Deathstalker with two holes in his chest would haunt him until the day he died. "Command found me the next day." Marlow said "I held your father's sword in one hand and his body in the other."

Neither Marlow nor Jaune spoke after the professor finished his tale, but both for completely different reasons. Marlow was racked anew with guilt, the deaths of all his men and teammates replaying in his head. Jaune sat in silence, fully absorbing the news of his father's death.

When the silence was broken, it was Marlow who spoke. "Ever since that day I've been unable to come to grips with what happened, and once you arrived, I could barely stand to even look at you." The veteran raised his eyes to look into Jaune's. "Your eyes are just like his were." He muttered.

"Sir, I..." Jaune said, unable to find the right words. "I didn't know..."

"No, your mother didn't want to tell you, and Ozpin refused to release the news to the public." Marlow explained. "Your father gave his life for the good of the kingdom, but he refused to tell the truth. Anyway," the redcoat said, rising to his feet "It's getting late, and your team is probably wondering where you are. You should go. After all, you still have class tomorrow."


	21. Classes Resume

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 17**

oxoxoxo

If there was one thing that could be said about Maria Gaia, it was that she was driven. Throughout her youth, she had always strived to be the best, always trying to go the extra mile to ensure victory and success. Even after she was beaten at Sanctum, she worked to win even harder than she ever had before, managing to earn a spot a Beacon for her efforts.

That said, if there was one thing she hated it was when something went wrong. And something was going wrong at this very moment.

Since the beginning of the year when she was partnered with the artist Alison Zu, she had worked to help the girl overcome her shyness and bring her into the new and larger world she had become a part of when she came to Beacon. For the beginning of the year, it had worked, and Alison had gone from barely speaking to actually initiating conversations. Now, however she seemed to be regressing. For the past two months, she had been slowly retreating into silence, barely speaking more than she had when she first arrived.

Maria watched this change and could only wonder what had gone wrong. Every time she tried to ask the girl she'd give a one or two word answer, assuring her she was fine, and giving a reassuring smile as she did. Maria, however, didn't need a semblance of accuracy to see that her smile didn't reach her eyes.

Not knowing what else to do, Maria decided to seek help, and she knew just the person to ask.

"You want me to what now?" said Ruby. The two of them had just walked out of Professor Fantine's dramatic arts class (something Maria had taken specifically for her partner, much to the grumblings of a certain swordsman) and were now on their way to Goodwitch's combat class.

"You heard me." Maria replied "I want you to tell me what you did to restore your relationship with your partner."

"Oh..." said the reaper. "What?"

Maria applied palm to face. This girl really could be as dense as Weiss said. "How did you make friends with Weiss again?"

"OH, right, that." Ruby said, looking away awkwardly. "Well, you see... I didn't..."

"What do you mean? The two of you are closer than ever!"

"Well... I didn't really do anything to make Weiss like me again. She kind of came to me..."

Maria sighed. "Well, as nice of a story as that is, it doesn't really help me with my problem."

"Well, what's your problem?" Ruby enquired.

Maria looked up into the genuinely curious eyes of the younger girl. What did she have to lose? "Well, You've met my partner Alison, and you know she has a... way with words shall we say."

"Yes?"

"Well, I've been trying to encourage her to say more, to come out of her shell and join the rest of the world." The centurion explained "And for a while it was working, then after the trip to forever fall she started regressing. She's going back into her shell Ruby, the same one I've been trying to get her out of."

Ruby thought for a moment before giving her answer. "Well, from what I know about you, you're a bit, well, you know, aggressive."

Maria smiled sarcastically. "Part of my charm, right?"

Ruby nervously laughed. "Heh, right. Well, have you thought of being a little less aggressive to her? Maybe just reassure her that you're there for her and she'll be more willing to talk to you."

Maria said nothing, but on the inside she wanted to slap herself. This whole time, she had been trying to pull Alison out of her shell and into the rest of the world. After she started to retreat back, she had tried to pull her right back out, but that probably only drove her even further in. Maybe she should have been gentler, try to coax her out rather than pull forcefully. "I'll give it a try, thanks Ruby."

The younger girl gave her trademark cheerful smile. "No problem!"

Maria gave her usual small smile. "Yeah, no trouble." She muttered as they approached the door to Goodwitch's class. Ruby put her hand on the door to open it, but Maria suddenly reached out to stop her. "By the way, you tell anyone about this talk, and I'll find you." She said, fixing the younger girl with a glare.

Ruby laughed at first before she noticed that Maria (as usual) was serious. "Alright, I got it." She said, pushing open the door and walking off to join her team. Maria watched her go, wondering if it could be as easy as Ruby made it out to be. She sighed softly before going to her team and taking a seat next to her silent as ever partner. She looked over her team to see that Alison was, as was typical of her these days, looking at her feet quietly. Meanwhile, Thatch was glowering at a wall, having most likely made an attempt to talk to the artist, her silence beginning to frustrate him. It seemed that Francois was the only one enjoying his day, chatting amicably with that faunus girl, Velvet.

"EMAD, up and at 'em." Maria declared, getting the attention of her team. "Class is starting, pay attention."

Just as Maria spoke, the class began, Goodwitch clearing her throat as she spoke. "Okay class, in preparation for the Vytal Festival at the end of the year, some matches today will be doubles matches. Partners will be chosen at random before you ask." She snapped, giving a pointed glare to Jaune who had his hand raised, the knight immediately lowering it. "We will, however be beginning class with more traditional one on one matches." Goodwitch then activated the fighter selector, the faces on the two screens shifting through the faces of the class. "The first fighters are..." she said, looking up to the faces. "Blake Belladonna..." The quiet member of Team RWBY put down her book and looked up to her face on the screen as her name was called. "And her opponent... Maria Gaia." Maria immediately stood up and marched off to retrieve her armour and weapons, not even bothering to look up to the screen. Blake went soon after her, making barely a sound as she did.

The remains of Team EMAD watched as their leader walked off. "Alright, I'm taking all bets on this one." Thatch said to the rest of the team. "Maria or the ninja."

"You know she'll kill you if she finds out you bet on this." Francois said with a small smirk at the thought of his partner's pain upon their leader's discovery of his stupidity.

"Not if I bet on her." Thatch assured.

"You may have a point." Francois mused "But I think we're all betting on her, so where's the fun in that?"

Thatch was shut up by that one. Alsion snuck in a giggle hoping he wouldn't catch it. She wasn't lucky.

"Oh, she speaks. Sort of." Thatch said, moving closer to her. Alison just looked away. "Bugger." The swordsman muttered.

It wasn't long before Maria and Blake took to the stage, both of them drawing their weapons and entering a fighting stance.

**(Author's Note: Hey look, more music! Song: From Shadows by Jeff Williams)**

Goodwitch looked between the two combatants, each one just waiting to make the first move. She wouldn't deny them this. "Ready. Begin!"

Maria opened the bout, charging for Blake, but the silent fighter flashed out of the way, the centurion slamming into a shadow clone as she begin to attack, making several slashes with _Gambol Shroud's _blade and sheathe, all of which were blocked by _Imperator _before Maria attacked with her blade, Blake leaping back to dodge the stab before leaping at Maria's side.

Maria spun around with her shield just in time to block a stab from Blake's sword, the girl leaping away right before Maria would have stabbed her, flipping away from the attack, Blake landed a good distance away from Maria, shifting her weapon into its pistol form and opening fire. Maria responded by ducking behind her shield, the boss opening to reveal the spinning barrels behind it.

Blake's eyes widened as the minigun in the shield roared to life, several rounds tearing right through a shadow clone she left behind. Maria turned to face the quiet girl before firing again, Blake leaping over the attack and diving blade first for Maria, but the centurion raised her shield in time to block the attack, batting the girl in black away with a swing of her shield. She then opened the boss to fire again, but just as the barrels began to spin, Blake rolled to the side and converted _Gambol Shroud _back to its pistol form, firing several rounds at Maria who raised her shield as a defence, but this was just what she was hoping for as she leaped behind the shield and kicked it away before kicking Maria in her helmeted head, sending her stumbling back.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the class, the entire audience was enthralled with the fight, but one student in particular took interest in one of the fighters. Francois carefully watched as Blake fought, each of the girl's movements seeming familiar to him, but he just couldn't place where from. That is, until he met Blake's eyes, the look they held instantly made him remember. The smooth, quick movements, the fluidity of her fighting, put together with the fierce, determined look in her eyes. He had only seen that look once before.

Maria dragged herself up to her feet to see Blake preparing for another attack. She needed a new strategy. Her shield was across the stage, all she had left was her sword, and her fighting style depended on her using her sword and shield in tandem.

At least, her usual one did. She cast her memory back to her teammates, one of them in particular, her mind instantly adopting his fighting style, compensating for the shorter length of her blade and its superior cutting power...

Blake looked to her aura and to her opponent's. Both of them were decently into the yellow, but Maria was still slightly in the lead. She was about to launch into another attack, when Maria suddenly struck another fighting stance, a fencing pose reminiscent of Francois.

**(New Music: Headstrong by Trapt)**

Before Blake could react, Maria surged forward, her blade a blur of thrusts and slashes, keeping her on her toes, forcing her ever further backward. Blake tried to fight back, using both parts of _Gambol Shroud, _but just as she tried to do so, Maria pulled her sword's scabbard off her hip and used it as a secondary weapon, her style shifting to match the quiet girl's, compensating for her slower movement in her armour. She rapidly began to force her foe back, inching ever closer to her shield. To cross the last of the distance, Maria made a dash forward, blade extended in just as Weiss would, Blake jumping aside as Maria dropped her scabbard, and grabbed _Imperator _with a rolling dash.

The centurion opened the boss of her shield as she rose, the first bullets flying as she got to her feet, Blake rolling underneath the stream of lead and converting her sword to pistol form to fire back. She pulled the trigger only to be rewarded with a 'click.' Blake's eyes widened as she was forced to dodge the gunfire again.

Maria kept on the other girl, turning to fire at her at every turn, but Blake was getting ever closer to the point where she was able to attack Maria up close again, raining slashes down on the centurion, using her shadow clones to avoid attacks as she forced the Roman backwards. Blake kept on her though, knowing that her only chance to win was to keep the fight in close quarters, her chances plummeting if she had to avoid gunfire again.

Blake just left out one factor: Maria was tenacious at close range. The Roman was fighting back, stabbing with her blade and charging, shield out, trying to either hit her foe or drive her back. That was when Maria got a lucky hit in, smacking Blake with _Imperator _and sending her to the floor. Not wasting a second, Maria planted her foot on Blake's chest and put the tip of her blade to Blake's throat.

"Stop!" Goodwitch declared, approaching the combatants. "Students, as you can see, Miss Belladonna's aura has been depleted, and thus, Miss Gaia is the winner."

Maria nodded and stepped off Blake, offering her hand to the other girl, a hand Blake gladly took. "Sorry about that." Maria muttered "I can be a bit... competitive..."

Blake shot the other girl a small smile. "Hey, it's no trouble." She said "You're supposed to fight hard."

Maria extended a hand to the other girl. "You fought well too. Disarming me was pretty impressive."

Blake returned the handshake silently before Goodwitch shooed them both off the stage for the next matchup. As the screen began to cycle through the faces of the class, Francois broke off from his team's congratulation of its leader and walked towards her opponent.

"_Excuse moi madame!" _Francois called out, getting the attention of Team RWBY, Weiss immediately face-palming. "May I have a word?"

"No." Weiss stated with an edge of finality.

"_Je m'excuse, _but I was speaking to my fearless leader's new friend." The marksman said, gesturing to Blake.

"Uh, okay." Blake said softly. "What's up?"

"May we talk somewhere quieter?" Francois asked "There is something we must discuss."

"What if one of us gets called up to fight?" Blake replied.

Francois was about to speak, when Goodwitch saved him the trouble. "The next match will be between Jaune Arc and Sky Lark."

The nobleman turned to Blake and gestured to the door. The girl shrugged and followed, Francois following close behind.

As the two walked off, Weiss turned to Ruby and Yang, grumbling something to herself. "Weiss, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"It's _him!" _Weiss hissed. "Does he have no shame? First he's all over me, then he moves on to Velvet and now Blake? I hate guys like that. I just hope Blake and Velvet are smart enough to get him to leave them alone."

oxoxoxo

Blake and Francois had just left the class when Blake opened with "If this is some attempt to get with me, you've got another thing coming."

"Relax _madame, _my heart belongs to another." Francois reassured. "I merely wanted to ask you about your combat skills. Might I ask where you were trained?"

"In my home town." Blake simply responded.

"Might I ask for more details?"

"You can ask, but you might not get an answer."

"Why not?"

"Why do you ask?"

Francois sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're more difficult than Alison..." he muttered.

"Do you have a point in all this?" Blake asked.

"It's just that your style reminds me of only one fighter, a man by the name of Lucius Severus-"

Before Francois could say more, Blake grabbed him and threw him up against a wall. "How did you know Severus?" she demanded.

"He taught me to fight." Francois replied. "Why, how do you know him?"

Blake realized she was acting suspicious and let the nobleman go. "I was tutored by him a few times."

"The look in your eye matched his to an almost frightening degree."

"You pick these things up when you fight with someone for long enough."

"I thought you were only tutored by him occasionally."

"There were a lot of occasions."

"And those occasions were?" Francois asked, hand propped on his chin.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." Blake said, and before Francois could respond she turned on her heel and walked back into the class.

The nobleman sighed and followed her, his mind racing to think of how she might have met Lucius. There wasn't much chance of the serpent moving between their two towns in order to work with both him and Blake, and there was no way she could have been able to pick up his style and look if she had met him when she was younger... Did she have some connection to the White Fang like Lucius did? But Lucius said he quit...

So deep was he in his thoughts that he only noticed the fight was over when Goodwitch called out "Mister Arc is the winner."

Those words were enough to bring anyone out of their thoughts, Francois looking up from his mind to see Jaune with the point of his sword to Lark's throat. _"Mon Dieu..." _he muttered.

"How did that happen?" Thatch said to seemingly no one.

Maria grunted. "Maybe he has more talent than I thought." She mused aloud.

Velvet nodded happily before moving back to Francois' side. "Where did you go?"

Francois jumped at her words before turning to her and replying. "It's not important _mon cherie."_

The bunny blushed at his words, turning away from the nobleman to hide her quickly reddening face.

Meanwhile, across the classroom with Team RWBY, Blake was lost in her own thoughts. How did Francois know Lucius? Was he the other pupil he mentioned? Did he know Lucius was involved with the White Fang? The cat faunus was hungry for answers, and she had a feeling the Nobleman would only give them to her if she gave him answers of his own.


	22. Classes Resume II

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 18**

oxoxoxo

From the back of Goodwitch's class, once again, Erik Fantine watched as the battles raged between the students. From his seat he had a perfect view of the glorious battle between Gaia and Belladonna and the... surprising fight that was Arc vs Lark. Perhaps Marlow was right about the boy. Speaking of which, "Curtis, I know you're there."

"Yes, well, years of doing the same to me must have given you a good sense of when you're being watched." Marlow said, taking a seat next to Fantine. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Oh yes." Said the phantom "It's amazing just how much that boy can improve since the beginning of the year. Perhaps the tuition to this academy is worth something after all."

"Well, there's a reason we're known as one of the finest academies for hunters in Remnant." Said the veteran.

"Indeed." Fantine muttered. "I just can't help but feel that perhaps he had some... extra help."

Marlow turned to his colleague with a questioning look on his face. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No, I just thought you might know about it as well." Fantine said, turning back to the stage as the next fighters were selected.

"Know about what?" Marlow demanded.

"You really don't know?" Fantine said, facing Marlow once again. "Well, he is getting extra help, it just wasn't from you as I thought it was. I was curious as to how he seemed to be doing better in all his classes, so I, shall we say, kept an eye on him after my class one day."

"You followed a student?" Marlow nearly shouted, incredulous. "Do you know what Ozpin would do if he found out?"

"Keep your voice down." Fantine hissed. "And since when have you cared about what Ozpin said? I thought you were still angry about-"

"I still respect the man." Marlow insisted, pushing back the memories that came with what Fantine mentioned. "And I care even less about you, but you would cause no small amount of trouble if you were caught."

"You're the only one who's ever able to catch me." Fantine said with a chuckle. "And it was only for one night anyway, minimizing the chances of being caught. As I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me, is that I caught the boy getting his extra help. He was training on the roof with the lovely Miss Nikos."

"And you thought I would know this, why?" Marlow demanded.

"You keep quite the close eye on the boy now." Said Fantine. "I thought perhaps you did what any man with your power would do."

"Just because I have power does not mean I must use it." The veteran retorted.

"Are we really going to get into another argument?" Fantine said in exasperation. "Surely you remember what happened last time." He said, pulling back his coat to reveal the knife hidden within.

The veteran didn't respond, merely scowling and turning back to the front of the class, the chosen fighters piquing his interest.

His changing expression did not escape Fantine, who followed his gaze to the faces of the fighters. "What?" he enquired.

Marlow reclined in his seat. "This should be an interesting match." He said to himself.

Fantine was about to ask what he meant when Glynda answered for him. "The next match will be between Cardin Winchester and Velvet Scarlatina."

oxoxoxo

Meanwhile with Team EMAD and Velvet, Maria had taken a seat next to Alison as she tried to put Ruby's advice to good use. "Uh hi." _Real smooth, Gaia. _She thought to herself.

Alison looked up from the ground. "Hi." She responded.

_Okay, words, this is good. _"How are you?" Maria asked.

"I'm okay." Alison replied.

"Good." Said Maria. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you, you know, I'm here if you want someone to talk to."

Alison looked at her partner sadly. "Can we talk at the dorm?"

Maria lightly patted the artist on the back with a small smile. "Of course."

As the two girls of the team talked, the boys were watching the shuffling screens with Velvet in relative silence, although the silence was for different reasons all around. Francois was still thinking about Blake and Lucius, Thatch was frustrated over Alison's silence, and Velvet, being Velvet, wasn't one of the most talkative of people.

That being said, it was surprising when she was the one to break the silence. "So what was it you wanted to talk to Blake about?" she asked.

It took a moment for Francois to realize she was talking to him. "Oh, it was just something about her technique that I found, shall we say, curious."

Velvet frowned. "Curious how?" She wondered.

Francois sighed. "You remember the story I told you of my old mentor? Well, something about Blake reminds me of him. When I asked her about it, however, she grew most defensive."

Velvet was about to ask more when Professor Goodwitch cut off their conversation. "The next match will be between Cardin Winchester and Velvet Scarlatina."

Velvet's face fell at the words. They had literally given Cardin the perfect excuse to pick on her with absolutely no consequences. In fact, he would be rewarded for beating on her. She watched with dread as Cardin went to retrieve his weapons.

It didn't take long for Francois to notice her discomfort. The nobleman put a comforting hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, putting a hand under her chin to lightly tip up her head. "You were good enough to get into Beacon, you can beat a muscle bound idiot with no fighting style."

Velvet stammered a response. "But he's always-"

"Picking on those he sees as weak." Francois said, cutting her off. "It's time for you to prove you're not weak. Prove to him and everyone else that not only do you deserve your spot at this academy, but that you won't tolerate him bullying you anymore!" Francois poured his heart, soul and semblance into what he told her, his eyes glowing gold as the words poured out. He could only smile as Velvet's eyes took on the same glow, her face beginning to turn up as he spoke. "No go. You don't want to keep everyone waiting."

Velvet nodded and rose to her feet, confidence filling every one of her movements as she retrieved her weapon and combat attire.

Before long, both combatants stood on the stage, Cardin in his grey and gold armour, his mace over his shoulder and a cruel grin on his face, and Velvet in her combat uniform of a brown and black top with gold spaulders and a gold belt over brown shorts and black leggings, a medium sized brown box appearing to be her weapon. The look of confidence had yet to fade from her face as she took a battle ready stance.

Cardin merely laughed. "So they, for some reason, think a bunny with a box can take on someone like me? Oh this is rich!" He said, his laughter slowly dying down. "Although, you do look great in that outfit. Maybe we could..."

"Mister Winchester, that's enough." Goodwitch admonished. "Ready. Begin!"

**(Author's Note: Music begins here. Song: Bad Reputation by Joan Jett)**

Cardin made the first move, charging forward and swinging his mace in a downward arc. Velvet gracefully leapt out of the way with a back flip before leaping forward and kicking Cardin directly in the face. The black knight stumbled back as Velvet advanced, leaping into the air and kicking him again before landing and delivering a roundhouse to the back of Cardin's head, sending him to the ground.

Cardin swung his mace at Velvet from the ground, but the faunus girl leapt back, dodging the attack and giving him time to rise. He growled at her and advanced, mace clutched in both hands. He swung at Velvet from the side this time, but the bunny girl ducked under the swing and used a leg sweep to knock the brute off his feet.

Cardin just managed to roll out of the way when Velvet came back with another kick and rose to his feet to catch her next one on the shaft of his mace.

Velvet leapt back from her failed attack and looked at both of their auras. Cardin was now in the yellow, having taken several kicks from her, but having not been hit at all, her own aura was still completely full. Velvet smiled to herself. It was time for something new.

As Cardin began his next attack, Velvet pulled out a secret weapon: a red dust crystal. The faunus girl began to pour her magic into it as Cardin approached. Once the crystal had begun to glow, she took it in both hands and crushed it. Cardin charged, but Velvet spun around and hurled the crushed crystal at the black knight, the dust becoming a wave of searing fire that slammed into the brute and sent him sprawling, groaning in pain as his aura dropped into the red zone.

The crowd of students was silent as Cardin's smoking form hit the floor. The gold glow faded from Velvet's eyes. That was when the students burst into a resounding cheer, Velvet looking down in shock at what she had just done. She had just beaten her tormentor to a pulp with nothing but a series of kicks and a single dust crystal.

She took a bow and stepped down from the stage to Francois. "I did it!" she cried, embracing the nobleman.

Francois merely chuckled and returned the hug. "I know, I saw. _C'est excellent!_"

Thatch stepped up with a snap of his fingers. "Damn, I really wanted a shot at that guy." He chuckled as he patted Velvet on the back.

It wasn't long before Teams RWBY and JNPR joined the celebration, Ruby being the first there to say "Velvet, that was awesome!"

Velvet looked down at her feet at the praise, kicking at the ground in embarrassment with all the attention she was getting. Fortunately for her, help came from an unexpected place. "Give the lady some space." Said Thatch "Let her breathe a bit after what she just pulled off."

RWBY and JNPR backed off and Velvet smiled. Then she realized she was still holding onto Francois. She quickly let go, face going completely red as she desperately tried to hide it. Francois and the crowd chuckled somewhat at her shyness before a glare from Thatch and Maria silenced them. Velvet, however, barely paid them any attention. Her mind and heart were currently going a mile a minute as she considered how to make her next move.

Then the part of her mind she had been trying to ignore kicked in. The part that wondered just how genuine this human was. If he was playing her, then that would be just what he wanted her to do. No, she would wait for now. That was the safer option. "Uh, thank you." She said.

"It was not a problem." He said, giving her what she hoped was a genuine smile.

Francois was about to ask what was wrong when their discussion was interrupted by the voice of Professor Goodwitch. "The doubles battles will now begin." The professor said as each of the screens shifted to feature two students and their auras, the pictures shuffling as the teams for the first round were decided upon. The first screen soon stopped, the blue eyed, white haired image of Weiss Schnee staring down at her peers.

Weiss rose from her seat and dusted herself off before walking head held high to the changing room to get into her gear and grab her weapon.

Had she not entered before the second screen shifted, she would have cried out in rage and frustration. The first of her opponents was the very boy she had borne a grudge against since her first day at Beacon. Looking down at the class on the opposite end of the stage from underneath his wide brimmed hat was the face of Francois Delatrois. The nobleman chuckled and rose from his seat only for a slender hand to grab his arm and stop him for a moment. Francois looked down to see the hand belonged to Velvet. The faunus girl used his arm to help her rise to her feet, not saying a word as she looked him in the eye. "Is there a problem _mon cherie?" _

Velvet said nothing, instead she leaned up on her toes to peck the nobleman on the cheek. "You helped me win my battle, now win this one for me." She whispered.

Francois smiled warmly in response, taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips to lay a kiss upon her knuckles. _"Pour vous, mon cherie, _anything."

The smile on the nobleman's face only got wider when his teammate for the match was announced. Staring down at him from the second screen was his black haired, tricorne hat wearing partner.

Thatch rose to his feet and clapped the marksman on the shoulder, a wicked grin on his face. "Looks like we've got a battle to win, partner."

Francois nodded. "It'll be the first time we've fought together since the caves _mon ami." _The marksman said as he turned back to the screen. He then burst out laughing.

"What? What is it?" The renegade demanded.

"_Regardes, _the screen." He said in between laughing.

Thatch turned to the screen confused, his confusion soon turning to an expression of disbelief and annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me..." he muttered. Weiss' teammate had been revealed. The face of Yang Xiao Long was now staring back down at him.

"Perhaps you can recover from that loss at the start of the year." Francois chuckled.

"Very funny." Thatch muttered as he stalked off.

Maria watched as Thatch and Francois left, Francois giving Velvet one last hug before he went to retrieve his equipment. The bunny faunus stared after the nobleman for a moment before walking over to join Maria and her ever quiet companion. "So," Maria opened, getting the attention of her two companions. "Who do you think will win?" she said with an almost cheeky smile.

Alison looked up to her leader for a few seconds before giving a wordless shrug.

The centurion sighed. "Look, I know you're not the greatest at dealing with people, but you were able to talk to me before, what happened?"

"She's got a point." Said Velvet "What's going on?"

Alison sighed. "It's not important." She said, looking down into her lap.

"If it's effecting you, then it is important." Maria instantly responded, taking a seat next to the artist and putting a hand on her shoulder. A second later, Velvet sat on her other side and did the same. "Tell us what's wrong, please." Maria almost begged.

The artist looked up, her bright green eyes looking sadly between her leader and her friend. Of all the people at Beacon, there was no question that her greatest friend was Maria. She was her first real friend, and the one to save her from Cardin and his thugs. Looking to Velvet, however, she felt something else. Of course the faunus girl was another friend of hers, and a good one at that, the two of them getting along famously ever since Francois brought her to meet the team. But that said, the closer Velvet got to the nobleman, the more Alison felt something in the pit of her stomach, a bitter, painful feeling that tainted her view of the rabbit girl, making it difficult to look her in the eye. It was jealousy. The faunus girl had effortlessly stolen the heart of one of her teammates, while she seemed to have missed her chance. "Can we talk tonight, Maria?" Alison asked softly.

Maria patted her partner on the back. "Of course, we can talk whenever you're ready." It seemed like Ruby's advice was working. She might have had to do a bit of coaxing, but she had finally convinced Alison to speak to her. Ruby was right, she had to let the artist talk when she wanted to, let her do it on her own. All she had to do was guide her a little. Standing up, Maria extended a hand out to her partner. "Come on, let's get a good seat for the match. I've got my money on Thatch and Francois."

A small smile on her face, Alison took the hand and rose to her feet, Velvet following suit as they walked over to the remains of Teams RWBY and JNPR. While Maria had little love for her red headed rival, she, her team and Team RWBY had grown close to her team. By this point, Maria had simply accepted the fact that she could have to deal with it as she took her seat next to Pyrrha, Alison and Velvet taking the seats after her.

Life may not have been perfect, but it was certainly looking up for her.


	23. Classes Resume III

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 19**

**oxoxoxo**

The stage at the front of the class began to expand, allowing it to accommodate all four fighters as they took to their respective sides, Thatch and Francois each loading their weapons while Yang expanded _Ember Celicia _and Weiss checked the dust supply on _Myrtenaster. _As the fighters on stage prepared for battle, the crowd watched in anticipation, eyes locked on the team of their choice as they eagerly awaited the beginning of the match.

**(Author's note: Music begins here. Song: Mirror Mirror by Jeff Williams)**

The students all fell silent as Glynda stepped onto the stage. She didn't say a word, merely looking from one team to the other, both entering combat stances, weapons at the ready. In a way, each side mirrored the other, each one having the high society fencer and the lower class street fighter, each one having some relation to their counterpart on the other team.

With a wave of her hand, the dust witch began the match.

Thatch and Francois made the first move, a pulse from each of their semblances raising their own spirits while sending a chill of nerves up Weiss and Yang's spines. The hesitation that caused gave the boys time to raise their weapons and open fire, but before any bullets could hit the girls, Weiss threw up a glyph, blocking the barrage before it hit them.

When the stream of lead ceased, Yang leapt over the glyph and charged straight for the boys, the two members of Team EMAD leaping out of the way of the brawler's attack. Thatch immediately leapt in to fight her while Francois was forced to block an attack from Weiss. He converted _Mademoiselle _into its sword form, using it to parry the strikes the heiress made while using the superior length of his blade to make attacks of his own.

Weiss leapt back from the duel and activated her sword's dust cartridges, the blade settling on a container of yellow dust. She pointed her blade at the nobleman, the blade taking on a matching yellow glow and firing a bolt of lightning right into Francois' chest, sending the marksman to the ground on his back. Weiss smirked in victory, but to her surprise, Francois rose from the ground, shifting his sword back into a rifle as he did, and fired two shots at her, both of which she was forced to dodge. "How did you get up from that?" she demanded.

Francois smirked and raised his tabard, revealing the armoured chestplate beneath it.

Griting her teeth in frustration, Weiss performed several gestures with her hand and sword, forming several glyphs around Francois. Surging forward, she went for a stab, but the marksman dodged, the heiress gliding past him and right into one of her glyphs. She leapt onto it, spinning in mid-air to face Francois again as she leapt off it at him. He managed to parry the blow, but Weiss merely landed on another glyph, launching another attack.

These glyphs now surrounded the nobleman, she could come from any angle. And he could only dodge for so long.

**(New music: I Burn by Jeff Williams)**

Meanwhile, Thatch and Yang began to re-enact their first duel, neither side having an advantage over the other. Yang would attack Thatch with fire blasts and punches, but the renegade would always manage to dodge, while attacking with his own slashes, all of which Yang managed to block, knowing that dodging could give him a chance to fire at her.

Yang aimed a right hook high, going for his face, but Thatch rolled under the blow and the resulting flame, rising on Yang's right and slashing with _Anne _and _Elizabeth _in continuous motion, putting Yang on the defensive as he did. The brawler, however, managed to block the slashes. Knocking his swords aside with a backhanded smash, she ducked to the ground and knockde the swordsman to the ground with a leg sweep. Yang leapt into the air and aimed a punch at the downed renegade's head, but Thatch rolled out of the way and leapt to his feet as the brawler came crashing down, making a hole where his skull had just been. Thatch raised his blade for a slash, but as he attacked, Yang blocked it and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back as she got to her feet.

Having gotten distance, however, Thatch raised both his blades and opened fire. Yang flipped out of the way of the bullets and fired back with bursts of flame from _Ember Celicia. _Thatch rolled out of the way of the fire, giving Yang the opportunity to close the distance and begin her attack anew, one of her punches catching an unlucky Thatch in the chest and sending him flying with a serious dent in his aura.

At the same time as he tried to rise, Francois rolled out of Weiss' glyph trap, both of them rising back to back. "How's it going?" The renegade asked as he raised his blades at Yang.

"_Tres bien." _The marksman replied, sword pointed at Weiss as she mimicked his action.

Thatch looked from one opponent to the other and then back to his teammate. "Trade you?"

Francois mimicked his gaze, looking from one girl to the other before coming back to his partner. _"Bien sur mon ami." _

**(New music: Beneath the Black Flag by Miracle of Sound)**

Francois ducked and Thatch vaulted over him, opening fire on Weiss as he did, the Heiress rolling to the side to avoid the fire and throwing up a glyph to block him as he aimed at her again. Meanwhile, Francois took to a knee and shifted his sword into its rifle form, opening fire on Yang, the precision of his shots forcing her back.

Thatch charged at the Schnee heiress, both his swords a whirlwind of motion as he made several fluid attacks, all of which Weiss was forced to dodge or block, the second blade of her opponent making fighting back difficult. Waiting for the right moment, Weiss threw up a repulsion glyph, sending Thatch stumbling back as he hit it. Taking the opportunity, Weiss shifted her blade to a fire based dust, the blade taking on a red glow as she pointed it at the renegade, flames spewing from the point.

As the fire got closer, Thatch leapt over it, spraying fire at Weiss as he did. The heiress leapt out of the way of the first burst and threw up a glyph to block the second, but she was forced to parry Thatch's blows herself when he landed and began slashing again, an attack occasionally breaking her guard and slowly cutting through her aura.

Weiss leapt back and thrust forward with _Myrtenaster, _the tip grazing Thatch's cheek and cutting through his aura. That was when the Renegade decided to put a little something extra into this fight. His eyes began to glow as he became the nightmare of the Schnee heiress. Weiss' eyes widened as he changed, turning from her fellow student to a hulking brute with a large cleaver in each hand. His greatcoat had turned into a white robe with a grey hood, a blood stained Grimm mask covering his face and gracing the robe was the image of a red wolf's head with three slashes over it. It took all of Weiss' strength to not cower in fear as the White Fang butcher advanced on her. All her life she had lived in fear of the faunus group, especially after they turned violent, several of her relatives turning up dead, buildings burned, employees vanishing without a trace...

Thatch grinned as the massive faunus advanced on the unmoving girl. "Sorry Ice Queen, but someone has to win, and I'd like it to be us."

That comment sent Weiss over the edge, the girl charging the terrorist in a blind rage, blocking several of his attacks before knocking his weapons aside with a blast of lightning and running the terrorist through the chest with her blade. She watched in satisfaction as he coughed up a globule of blood, but that look turned to horror, as the image flickered and changed, the terrorist morphing into Ruby. The red hooded girl looked at Weiss, horrified and betrayed, as the life left her eyes. Weiss stumbled backwards. No. What had she done? How did this happen?

She looked down in horror, but it soon turned to confusion as the image of Ruby faded. She was about to demand an answer when Thatch slammed the hilt of one of his swords into the back of her head, knocking her aura down into the red.

Thatch allowed himself a momentary smirk of pride before running to help his partner.

**(New music: Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top)**

Francois opened fire on Yang to hold her back, the blonde getting ever closer with every movement until she reached melee range. Yang wound up for a punch, but Francois rolled out of the way and came back with a stab from his bayonet, one that Yang parried and punched him directly in the stomach, the punch and resulting burst of fire, sending him flying back, the blow felt even through his armour. Yang was about to move in to finish him off when a stream of bullets interrupted her, forcing her to dodge. Yang looked to their source to see Thatch standing there, one sword outstretched, barrel smoking. The renegade gave his trademark vicious smirk before charging the brawler, swords a blur of motion.

Thatch forced Yang back onto the defensive, swinging his blades at high speeds and constantly advancing. "Both of you just for little old me? I feel honoured." Yang quipped.

"Well, I do have to make up for last time." Thatch answered, not stopping his attack.

Yank knocked one of his blades aside and aimed a flaming right hook at Thatch's head, but the renegade dodged and returned with a slash from his other sword. Yang leapt out of the way and returned with a blast of fire that Thatch sidestepped before charging with his blades, but the brawler smashed a flaming fist into the ground, the resulting explosion sending Thatch to the ground.

Yang leapt into the air to finish him off, but mid punch, a bullet smacked into her midriff and knocked her aura into the red. The crowd all looked to the source of the shot. Francois sat in prone position the barrel of _Mademoiselle _smoking. Thatch rose to his feet with a smile and approached his companion to help him to his feet, extending a hand to the downed nobleman.

Francois accepted the hand, rising to his feet with a grunt of pain and leaning on Thatch for support as he grimaced in discomfort. Lifting up his now scorched tabard, his emblem now nearly burned off, he saw his chestplate. The armour bore a large dent where Yang had punched it. The instant the nobleman saw this he began scrambling for the straps of his armour.

"Calm down mate." Thatch said as he walked Francois to his seat. As soon as they arrived back, Velvet was on Francois in an instant, aiding him with the armour as Thatch sat him down. He watched as Velvet helped his partner out of his armour, resisting with all his might the urge to make a snarky remark. He watched with a satisfied smirk as Francois whispered something to the faunus girl, her cheeks turning red at the remark. A hand on his shoulder alerted him to a presence next to him. Turning to his left, Thatch saw that the hand belonged to Alison. "Hey." He muttered.

The artist surprised him by giving him a rare smile and – Thatch could barely believe it – looking him in the eye again. "You did good." She said.

The renegade smirked at the girl. "I've got to beat her eventually."

Alison smirked back. "But you didn't, Francois did."

Thatch shrugged at her comment. "I beat the other one at least, and I saved his arse." His smile suddenly turned more serious. "I'm glad you've decided to talk to me again."

Alison turned away slightly to hide her red face and tried a joke. "I can't just ignore you forever." She mumbled.

Thatch smiled at his teammate and put a hand on her shoulder, the gesture seeming to take a massive weight off both their shoulders.

Meanwhile with the other students, Maria and Pyrrha watched with similar expressions on their faces. Both read happiness, but Maria's had more than a trace of pride in it.

Pyrrha gestured to Maria's teammates. "They seem happy."

"Let them be." Maria replied "They've earned it after the fight. Besides' every other night I have to deal with something similar from you and your knight in shining armour." She snorted a small laugh "Of course, yours usually involves more violence."

Pyrrha turned to her rival with an expression of shock. "What do you mean my 'knight in shining armour?'"

Maria rolled her eyes. "My team's room is right beneath your training roof. I can hear the two of you fighting and bantering." She explained. "Could you make things any more obvious between the two of you?"

"But we aren't... we're not..." the Amazon fumbled for words as the centurion laughed sardonically.

"That's a surprise given how many times you've let him win your fights." She said with a smirk. "I'd almost think you wanted something from him."

Pyrrha looked at her rival in shock. "I'm not sure what's more surprising, the fact that you think I'd do that to my leader or that you're actually talking to me. Like a real person."

Maria shrugged. "I can't hate you forever. Perhaps Alison is rubbing off on me."

Pyrrha smiled. "Seems like that's a healthy partnership then."

Maria nodded, but then narrowed her eyes at Pyrrha and glared hard. "I will still beat you some day." She hissed.

Now it was Pyrrha's turn to roll her eyes. "Now there's the Maria Gaia I know." Pyrrha looked from her rival to her partner. "Want to know one thing?" she asked quietly. If she thought about it, Team EMAD were the only ones who didn't know about her saving Jaune, and since she considered them (yes, even Maria) to be friends, they deserved to know the truth.

Maria looked at her quizzically. "What?"

The bronze clad girl leaned in to whisper in the centurion's ear. "You remember that day in forever fall? The one where Jaune fought the Ursa?" Maria nodded. "Well, I helped him in the fight. I used my semblance to raise his shield."

Maria went rigid at this news. So it was all a lie. The moment she regained her faith in Jaune was faked. He was no warrior, only a boy with luck and a partner. Maybe that was enough, but he was going to get himself killed like that. But Pyrrha WAS training him. But no matter how much training he got, would he ever be any different from the hopelessly foolish boy she knew he was? With every line Maria only got angrier and angrier, her continuously souring expression beginning to worry Pyrrha. The Amazonian girl put a hand on the centurion's shoulder, but she batted it away before smacking her in the face, sending her reeling. "What were you thinking?" Maria hissed "He's going to get himself killed here."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked, rubbing a hand over the cheek where she was slapped.

"I know." Maria stated.

Pyrrha instantly knew what she meant. Her room was just beneath where they trained. It was too much to hope for that she didn't hear Jaune's confession to her. She looked around the room, noticing that the slap had drawn the attention of several students who were now whispering amongst themselves. "Listen, I don't know what you might have heard, but-"

"But you do know." Maria hissed. "He doesn't belong here. He forged his entrance, lying to Beacon's staff as he did, and shaming us all. Not only that, but he's no huntsman, only an idiot with a blade and a heart that the Grimm will rip out of him."

"I've been training with him," Pyrrha insisted, some students straining their ears to hear the whispered conversation. "He's getting better and-"

Pyrrha was cut off by another slap from her increasingly angered rival. "And nothing. How much better has he really gotten? I've only seen him win two battles, one I know you had a hand in, and the other I now question."

Pyrrha was about to respond when they were interrupted. "Ladies," Professor Goodwitch intruded. "It seems you two would like to go next, so that's what we'll do. The next round instead of a doubles battle will be between Maria Gaia and Pyrrha Nikos."

Maria shot one last glare at her bronze clad rival before stalking off to her team, her fellow members more than a little concerned by her sudden anger. "Maria," Alison asked "Are you alright."

"Never better." The centurion muttered. The words were bitter, but honest. After all this time, she now had the chance to beat her rival and prove her superiority.

This time, the fight would be hers.


	24. Classes Resume IV

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 20**

**oxoxoxo**

Alison watched as Thatch tried to talk their leader down. Not even ten seconds after it was announced that Maria was fighting Pyrrha she had grabbed her armour and weapons and had made for the changing room. Alison had tried to talk her partner down, but the centurion had gently but firmly pushed her aside, saying she would be fine. Now the Renegade was attempting diplomacy of his own, but from the looks of the conversation, it wasn't going well, culminating with Maria nearly shoving past her teammate on her way to change. The artist let out a sigh before walking over to the renegade. "No luck?" she asked.

Thatch muttered something under his breath before replying. "No, not at all. She said she'd be fine, and that she had a special surprise in store for Pyrrha. Then she pushed me aside."

Alison stared after her leader for a few seconds before running after her, determined this time to calm her down. Silently, she ran to her leader, surprising her when she was suddenly in front of her. "Maria, please, you're not fully recovered from your last match and no one can fight while tired and angry."

Maria sighed and looked her partner in the eye. "Alison, I have nothing but respect for you, but I have more than enough energy left to fight her, and this isn't anger. It's determination. I've been waiting for this chance since I got here, and I won't waste it."

"Are you sure?" Alsion enquired. Maria said nothing, merely narrowing her eyes at the other girl. "Okay, you're sure..."

Maria nodded and pushed past her partner. "Relax. I have a little something in store for my dear rival."

The artist wanted to be more confident in her leader, but for some reason she just couldn't. She walked somewhat dejectedly back to her team, Thatch standing and waiting for her while Velvet helped Francois out of his damaged chestplate as Yang watched anxiously, hoping she hadn't done too much damage. The nobleman began to work on his shirt after the armour was removed, pulling it from the area of the dent to reveal a large, red bruise. He cursed quietly before putting the garment back on. "That will be painful, but it's not that bad." He said.

Yang sighed in relief as Thatch chuckled. "Look on the bright side, at least you had the armour. When I fought Yang all I had was this coat."

The team laughed at Thatch's comment, Yang slapping him on the back and sending him to the floor, causing even more laughter. Well, from most people. Unlike the rest of her team, Alison didn't laugh, but merely looked on at the renegade as he laughed with the blonde. She thought she could get past this, but it was proving to be more difficult than she thought. And being around Francois and Velvet was certainly not helping. She sighed internally. No one ever said school life would be easy.

oxoxoxo

It wasn't long before Maria and Pyrrha stood on stage, both fully armed and armoured, weapons raised as they awaited the start of the match. In her head, Maria was nervous, but she was determined to not show it. Alison was right, her fight against Blake had been tough, and while she still had energy enough for a fight, this was no ordinary opponent. This would be a fight against the one opponent who had ever managed to best her. She shook her head to rid it of such thoughts. No, today she would beat her rival and prove her superiority over her.

Across the stage, Pyrrha was just as anxious and was having just as much trouble hiding it. She knew she had the advantage of both being a fresh fighter and having her semblance to help her out in a pinch, but she also knew that Maria was a tenacious fighter. Not only that, but the nasty glare the other girl was shooting her was doing nothing to help her confidence. She would need to finish this fight quickly, letting it drag on for too long was asking for trouble.

Goodwitch looked between the two girls, both gripping their weapons so tight their knuckles were turning white. There was no question that both were ready. "Begin!" She declared.

**(Author's Note: Music begins here. Song: Out of Control – Battle Beast)**

Maria made the first move, the boss of _Imperator _opening and spraying a stream of bullets at her rival, but Pyrrha, expecting this, leapt out of the way and shifted her sword to its rifle form, aiming and firing back at the centurion. Maria ducked behind her shield and blocked the bullets before charging at the Amazon.

Pyrrha leapt back and shifted her weapon into sword form. Maria slammed shield first into her and knocked her back, draining some of her aura in the process. The Roman moved in to finish her off with her blade, but Pyrrha parried the stab with her shield and attacked with her own blade, a strike that Maria instantly blocked with _Imperator. _Maria then came back with a slash of her own, but Pyrrha met that with her shield before making an attack that Maria blocked with her own shield, smashing it into Pyrrha and opening the boss right in her face.

The second the barrels began spinning, Pyrrha leapt aside, just managing to avoid a stream of bullets that would have torn her aura apart before she shifted _Milo _back to rifle form and fired, hitting her rival in her armoured shoulder and knocking her aura into the yellow. As expected, Maria didn't just take that attack, bringing her shield around to face Pyrrha and firing. The Amazon raised her shield, but the force of the bullets still knocked her off her feet.

Pyrrha rolled aside as another burst was fired, leaping to her feet and charging for the centurion. She raised her rifle and fired, a shot hitting the crest of Maria's helm and knocking it over her eyes. Not wanting to waste time trying to fix it, Maria tore the helm off, her long, brown hair being shaken out as she did. Pyrrha took immediate advantage of the distraction, trying for the tactic that beat Maria at Sanctum. Reaching out with her power of polarity, she grabbed for her opponent's shield.

Nothing happened.

Maria smirked as she saw Pyrrha's outstretched hand. "You think I didn't learn from our last match? At great, personal cost, I had my shield completely de-magnetized. I told you I had a surprise for you." With that, the centurion charged again, Pyrrha just dodging her stab, but not managing to avoid the following shield bash that knocked her to the floor.

Thinking quickly, Pyrrha shifted _Milo _to its spear form and used its shaft to sweep Maria's legs out from under her. She rose to her feet and stabbed down at the centurion who blocked her attack with her shield, knocking the spear strike aside before firing back with her shield's gun. Pyrrha leapt back from the attack, giving Maria time to rise to her feet, her armour clinking as she rose.

_Her armour! _Pyrrha realized. It was a long shot, but anything that could save her was worth the risk. Reaching out once again with her semblance, her hand glowed black, a glow that, to her immense satisfaction and relief, soon spread to Maria's lorica segmentata. A second later, a look of horror and rage on her face, Maria slammed into the stage floor. Pyrrha moved in to finish the fight, but before she could Goodwitch called an end to the match.

"Enough!" the professor called. "As you can see, Miss Gaia's aura has dropped into the red, so Miss Nikos is the winner. Perhaps, Miss Gaia, if you didn't challenge another opponent fresh off your last fight, you might have stood a better chance."

Maria looked away in embarrassment. All the time and money she spent on getting her shield de-magnetized before the year started, and she hadn't even considered her armour. Maybe Alison was right, making decisions when angry was a bad idea. That's what she was, angry. There was no other word for it. She was angry at herself for losing the battle. She was angry at the Arc boy again for his lies. But most of all, she was angry at Pyrrha. She had defeated her again, and not only that, but she was not only ignoring Arc's lies, but actively encouraging them! The boy was bringing shame to Beacon, and was going to get himself killed. Something had to be done.

Grumbling to herself, Maria dragged herself off the ground and dusted herself off before storming back to her teammates. Looking to them she remembered the reason she didn't reveal Arc's secret when she first discovered it. Their looks of encouragement even in her defeat that they bore right now would be lost, replaced with looks of disappointment, anger even, once they found out what she did. In her head she began to weigh the options again. Francois might understand. He had a soft spot for the weaker students of the academy; she assumed that was why he had gone after Velvet. But on the other hand, he preferred to help through encouragement, constantly striving to aid the faunus girl. He would be disappointed at first, but would come to understand once enough time had passed.

Thatch was another matter. The renegade was hot-headed and somewhat short tempered. If she outed Arc, he might even turn on her. The boy had a near hair trigger, and something like this would be slamming on the trigger with as much force as she could. Although, once he learned that Arc could die here, he'd grudgingly respect her choice.

Then there was her partner. Alison would be greatly saddened if she had Arc expelled, and if there was one thing Maria had learned to hate since coming to Beacon, it was the look the artist got when she was saddened, and her actions would definitely do so. The quiet girl might even cry. That was something Maria had no desire to see, but should she go through with her plan, she would have to face it.

Maria shook her head to clear it. Now was not the time to think of things like this. She was still too angry to make such a decision, and she had to make one major call before she could decide something so big: did the benefits outweigh the penalties? Was possibly losing the respect of her team worth it?

She would leave the decision for now. Class was over, and she of all people needed sleep.

As the teams left the classroom, however, an unexpected voice interrupted Team EMAD in their departure. "Excuse me?" Weiss Schnee called after them. "Can I talk to you?"

Francois elbowed his partner in the ribs. "And here I thought she didn't want me around." He said with a chuckle.

"Actually," Weiss interjected matter-of-factly "I'd like to speak to both of you." Thatch and Francois exchanged a quick glance to each other, before each boy gestured to himself. "Yes, both of you."

As one, the boys looked to each other before turning to their leader. Maria shrugged. "You two do what you like. We'll meet you back at the dorm." She said before walking off.

Thatch and Francois turned back to the heiress, Thatch being the one to break the silence. "So... What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh you know full well what I want you delinquent!" Weiss fumed.

Thatch backed off from the almost tangible rage of the heiress. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I don't know really." He said, hoping to calm her down.

Weiss sighed, most of her anger seeming to dissipate with the sigh. "That..." she paused for a moment to shudder "The vision you showed me. What did it mean?"

"The illusion?" Thatch asked. Weiss nodded, uncertain. "To be honest, I don't really know. I can't see what I show people, although once I find out, it is usually pretty easy to tell them what it means. So, what exactly did you see?" The renegade asked, putting a hand to his chin.

"Well," Weiss began "in the beginning, you turned into this huge... White Fang member. You were covered in blood and..."

"Doesn't seem to complicated Ice Queen." Thatch said, choosing to ignore the resulting glare from said Ice Queen as he continued. "Your family doesn't exactly have the best relationship with the White Fang, so you saw the worst possible manifestation of that as you could."

"Well... that wasn't all. There was one more thing." Weiss said quietly as she kicked the ground nervously.

"So what else happened?" Thatch wondered aloud. "All I know is I put you in an illusion while I snuck up behind you. I saw you go from scared to angry to confused to horrified. What happened?"

Weiss sighed. "You already know the beginning. You made that... animal attack me, so I fought back. I just got so mad that I fought as hard as I could. I even managed to kill him. But then... then things changed. That... monster... he turned into Ruby. I watched her die, knowing that I had killed her-"

"I see." Thatch said, interrupting her. Normally he'd let someone finish what they were going to tell him, but he could see that making Weiss live through this again was... not a good idea. "I think I know what that meant. Like I said, the White Fang soldier is an easy one: they hate you, you hate them, the worst of the lot was after you, you get the picture. That second part is a little less simple. You obviously, even though you try to hide it, care about your team and don't want to see anything bad happen to them, especially if it were somehow your fault. As for why it was specifically Ruby, well, it might be because you're her partner, or it could be something else. You care about her a lot, don't you?"

Weiss took a second to let what the swordsman had said sink in. "I guess I do care for her. She's a good friend..." Weiss muttered, her thoughts now occupied by the crazed dolt's smile as she laughed at something silly. She was brought out of her thoughts by the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. Expecting it to be Thatch, she looked up to give him thanks for helping her with the meaning of the illusion, but when she gazed up to do so, it turns out the hand belonged to one Francois Delatrois. And speaking of the nobleman. "And as for you, I still need to know something from you: why did you only chase after me for the first month of school? Did I finally shoot you down enough to make you chase another girl? And now you've moved on to Blake? What is it with you?"

Francois raised his hands in surrender. "First, I am not 'moving on' to _mademoiselle _Belladonna. I'm quite happy to spend my time with Velvet. As for why I stopped my attempts to woo you, you did make it clear that you were uninterested. I decided not to waste both of our time." Weiss looked like she was about to say something when the nobleman continued. "After all, you seemed much more interested in your leader than in me."

At that comment, Weiss went as red as her aforementioned leader's cloak. She opened her mouth to say something scathing, but no noise emerged other than a squeak of what was likely embarrassment, something that brought the boys no small amount of laughter. Weiss only looked down, her face red as she desperately reached for something to throw back at the boys. Eventually, she gave up, and in a huff she stormed off. Little did the boys know that in her head she was running through everything they had said, and found herself not completely hating the idea of her and her red cloaked partner.

Thatch let out a light chuckle when the heiress left. "Nice one mate, you really got her there."

Francois shrugged. "I meant every word." He said simply.

Thatch looked at him for only a moment before he realized that his partner was serious. "So you really think that she-"

"_Vraiment." _Said the nobleman. "Look at them. You can tell there is something there, but neither one wants to admit it. Kind of like you and Ali-"

Thatch immediately covered the nobleman's mouth before he said anymore. "Shut up and I won't knock your teeth out." He muttered harshly.

Francois rolled his eyes at his partner. "You may as well admit it _mon ami, _everyone can see it but the two of you. Well, with the possible exception of our fearless leader." Thatch only grumbled something before sighing in defeat. Francois smirked in response. Just how well did the supposedly uncaring renegade think he could hide his feelings for his teammate? Not very well apparently, Francois had been able to discover them on their first day of being a team. Not only that, but he was able to deduce that the silent artist saw something in his partner as well. He chuckled to himself at the thought of two highly trained hunter initiates being too shy to talk to those they cared for. The thought brought an actual chuckle to his lips. At least he didn't have that particular problem.

"What's so funny noble boy?" Thatch demanded.

The nobleman set off in the direction of their dorm room, the renegade following behind him, a scowl marking his features. "I'd rather not say _mon ami. _After all, I'd like to keep my teeth." Said Francois with another chuckle.

Thatch's only response was another grumble and some muttered curses.

oxoxoxo

Maria cursed as she walked along the darkening grounds of Beacon. When they had gotten back to the dorm room she had asked Alison for that talk she promised her during class, but the artist had shut herself in completely, saying nothing when Maria asked her, she just sadly shook her head.

The centurion hadn't said anything at the time, but her anger from the day's events had just gone through the roof. Not wanting to explode in front of her shy partner, she instead marched off to the grounds. What few students who were still out at this hour steered clear of her, knowing not to approach her when she was angered.

This had just been an awful day. She had lost to her rival again, that same rival had turned out to be a liar, she was now faced with the same decision of whether or not to have Jaune expelled, and on top of all of that, she had driven her partner all the way into her shell again. Any shred of progress that had been made was officially crushed after today. Now she'd need to start all over again.

She took a seat on a bench on the edge of campus and let out a heavy and angry sigh. One problem at a time, otherwise she'd go insane at this rate. _I'll start with Arc. _She decided. After all, that came down to one simple choice.

But then again, the choice wasn't all that simple. On one hand, Arc would almost certainly be killed here. He had probably barely even held that sword of his until he got here, and even with Pyrrha training him, he was still just a boy with no skills and a big heart. Not only that, but his lie brought shame to the entirety of Beacon's students, past, present and future, as many of them worked their whole lives to get here while he lied his way in to make himself look good.

With all of that stacked against him, it should have been a simple call. Tell Ozpin and get him removed from the academy. But no, three factors just kept getting in her way: her team. She knew any move against him was near certain social suicide in the eyes of her teammates.

With a loud groan, Maria fell back across the bench. The seemingly simple choice was weighing down on her like a ton of bricks.

The ringing of her scroll pulled her out of her head. Pulling the device out, she looked to see that it was her partner calling her. With another heavy sigh, Maria put the scroll to her head and answered. "Hello?"

"_Maria?" _said Alison from the other end. _"Where are you? Thatch and Francois are back, they want to know where you went."_

Maria sighed again. "I'm on my way back." She said, tiredly.

Alison said nothing at first, but soon asked a seemingly simple question, but all the same, one that Maria just couldn't answer. _"Are you okay Maria?"_

The centurion hesitated a second before answering. "I'm fine, just tired." It wasn't a lie, the combination of the day's battles and her own mental struggles were exhausting her. "Tell the boys I'll be back soon, alright."

"_Are you sure?"_

"I said I'm fine!" Maria snapped. She caught herself soon after that. "I'm sorry. I'll be back soon." And with that she hung up the phone.

Alison let out a heavy sigh as she put her scroll away on her nightstand. Thatch took a seat next to her. "What's up?" he inquired.

"She says she's on her way back." Alison answered, looking down at her lap.

"I'm sure our fearless leader will forgive me for this, but I wasn't talking about her." Thatch said, cupping her chin and tilting her head up to look him in the eye. "What's wrong?"

"It's just," Alison started, hesitating as she searched for the right words. "She's been a little... on edge ever since she talked to Pyrrha today."

"You're worried about her?" The renegade asked. The artist nodded. "I wouldn't worry too much." Thatch said softly. "Maria's a big girl, whatever the problem is, I'm sure she can handle it."

Alison sighed. "I hope you're right."

Little did Alison know, but Maria was having similar thoughts at that very moment. Her decision had been made, and all she could do was hope it was the right one.


	25. The Stray

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 21**

**oxoxoxo**

The city of Vale was abuzz with activity. Workers scurried about the streets, sweeping up any dirt in sight, hanging banners and balloons up all over town, and doing all in their power to make sure the city was presentable for the arriving guests from the other kingdoms. The streets were alive with people as citizens of Vale gathered to see and greet the soon to be arriving guests from the other kingdoms.

Among these crowds were five teenage girls, each one different from the last. They were huntresses from Beacon Academy, the newly formed Team RWBY and their guest for the day, Alison Zu.

It was the morning after Maria's loss to Pyrrha in Goodwitch's class, and since it was a Saturday, the beginning of the weekend and the source off all things good in the world, the girls had opted to go into town, and, surprisingly enough, it was Yang's idea to bring Alison along, stating that 'she needs to really meet the rest of the kingdom at some point, why not now?' The day's activity, however, was Weiss' idea. With the Vytal Festival quickly approaching, the heiress had suggested they go into town and see if students from the other kingdoms had begun to arrive yet.

Both, however had ulterior motives. Weiss' was easy for anyone with knowledge of her mind to comprehend, but Yang, Yang had a plan for her guest. She knew how her old friend Thatch felt about the artist, and knew that if she made the offer to talk to her for him, he'd refuse without a second thought, all that manly pride and what not. That's why she didn't ask him. She knew that it would be good for the artist to get more experience with the rest of the world, so that was the excuse she'd used, but she was also looking for an excuse to bring up the topic of the renegade in conversation. Easier said than done since Alison wasn't exactly a chatterbox, and when she did talk, it was never about anything Yang could turn into the type of conversation she wanted.

"The Vytal Festival!" Announced Weiss, hauling Yang out of her thoughts. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby remarked, looking quizzically at her partner. "It's kind of weirding me out..." Alison nodded silently in agreement.

"How could you not smile?" Weiss responded, turning to face her younger partner. Normally, she would have said it with a more venom, and maybe thrown the word 'dolt' in there for good measure, but ever since her conversation with Thatch and Francois the night before... well, she felt more tolerant of her partner's occasional childishness. "It's a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament!" The heiress gushed, spinning back around and walking off. "Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang scoffed at the girl in white. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." She said.

"Quiet, you..." Weiss shot back as she continued to lead the other girls to the docks.

Alison giggled softly at the other girls. Thatch had once said that they should sell tickets to their bickering. He was right. And there she was, thinking about the renegade again. She let out a soft sigh before she felt a hand land on her back. The artist looked up to see the hand belonged to Blake.

The other quiet girl looked directly into her eyes, jade meeting amber. It was a silent question of whether or not she was okay. Alison held her gaze, indicating that she would be fine.

"Remind me again why we're spending our weekend visiting the stupid docks." Yang said, breaking the silence and pulling Blake and Alison back into the real world.

"Ugh, they smell like fish." Ruby complained, holding her nose. Alison mimicked the action, nodding her head in agreement.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Said Weiss, looking out over the water. "And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

Blake rolled her eyes in amusement. "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

"You can't prove that." Weiss hissed in reply. She may not have wanted to be harsh with Ruby, but her other teammates, they were fair game.

Ruby rolled her eyes at her teammate's response. She was about to continue walking when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it and was, to say the least, surprised by the result. "Whoa..." she muttered as she looked down the street at what was once a dust shop. The windows had been smashed, the door was knocked off its hinges , and the entire building was blocked off by police lines.

The girls followed the reaper up to the store where she approached one of the detectives on duty. "What happened here?"

"Robbery," the detective answered "second dust shop to be hit this week..." he said as he walked back to work. "This place is turnin' into a jungle."

"That's terrible." Said Yang.

"They left all the money again." Another detective noted, catching the attention of Ruby. Alison followed the red haired girl's eyes as she looked at the shop.

"It don't make a lick o' sense. Who needs that much dust?" asked the first cop.

"I don't know man, you know what I mean?" replied the other one.

"You thinkin' the, eh, White Fang?"

"I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough for this."

"Hmph." Weiss scoffed. "The White Fang, what and awful bunch of degenerates."

"What's your problem?" Blake asked, accusingly.

"My problem?" Weiss answered "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake responded. "They're a collection of misguided faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss spat. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're VERY misguided." Blake replied. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point." Said Ruby. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him."

"It is what he does." Alison added.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss huffed. "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal."

Weiss may have missed the angry glare Blake shot at her when she turned her back, but Alison sure saw it. The look more than worried her.

"That's not necessarily true." Said Yang.

Unfortunately, her point was interrupted by a loud cry from the dock of "Hey! Stop that faunus!"

The girls all rushed to the docks to see a tall boy in a white, unbuttoned shirt, red metal gauntlets and a monkey tail poking out of his rolled up jeans run off a docking ship. He turned to the sailors with a smirk. "Thanks for the ride, guys!" Before chuckling and leaping off the ship.

"You no-good stow away!" one of the sailors cried.

The monkey tailed boy, who had taken to hanging by his tail from a street light peeled a banana as he responded. "Hey, a no-good stow away would have been caught, I'm a great stow away!"

Team RWBY and Alison watched, some even laughing, when the faunus boy hurled his banana peel into the face of a police officer and bolted up the stairs from the dock and away from the cops, taking a moment to wink at Blake as he ran past, something only Alison with her keen sense of sight noticed.

"Well Weiss," said Yang "You wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."

"Quick!" cried Weiss "We have to observe him!" she declared before breaking into a run after the monkey boy.

The other girls followed behind her, Blake and Alison hesitating to look at each other before they ran with the rest of the team.

Unfortunately, Weiss bolted around a corner right into something solid and tripped over it, sending both to the ground and allowing the faunus to get away. "No! He got away!" Weiss cried in despair.

"Uh... Weiss?" Weiss turned to see Yang was pointing beneath her. She turned to look at what Yang was pointing at, only to come face to face with a smiling, orange haired girl wearing a white blouse, a grey dress and black and green pants. The white haired girl immediately recoiled in shock with a cry.

"Sal-u-tations!" Said the odd girl.

"Uh... hello." Ruby replied.

"Are you... okay?" Yang enquired.

"I'm wonderful!" Said the girl "Thank you for asking."

The girls took a second to look at each other, all of them asking the same silent question: _what?_

"Do you... wanna get up?" Said Yang, honestly confused and worried.

The girl grimaced and hesitated for a second before blurting out "Yes." The odd girl leapt off the ground, the other girls taking a step back as she did. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny," said Ruby "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Alison." The artist mumbled.

"I'm Weiss." Said the heiress.

"Blake." Said the girl in black.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before being elbowed in the gut by her partner. "Oh! I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny blurted out.

"You already said that..." Weiss responded.

Penny stopped. The wheels were obviously turning in her head as she tried to come up with a response. "So I did!" she said, a smile on her face.

"Well... sorry for running into you." Weiss said as she turned to leave.

The other girls soon followed her, Ruby turning to say "Take care friend." To the odd girl and Alison nodding in agreement.

About thirty seconds later, Yang turned to the other girls. "She was... weird."

Surprisingly, it was Alison who spoke up next. "She seems almost like the anti-me." She muttered.

Yang let out a chuckle at that and grabbed the artist around the shoulders. "Hah, yeah you're right! Good one!"

"Now," Weiss interrupted, looking about the street. "Where did that faunus riff raff run off to?"

It seemed like it was a whole day of surprises, however, as when Weiss looked back down the street, there was Penny, less than three feet away. "What did you call me?"

Weiss looked back down the street where they had previously left Penny while Yang tried to stutter an apology. Penny, however, was having none of it as she pushed past both of them. "Not you," she said as she approached their red hooded leader. "you..."

Ruby leaned back as Penny got ever closer and began really invading her personal space. "Me?" she squeeked. "I-I don't know-"

"You called me friend." Penny said, leaning even closer. "Am I really your friend?"

"Uh..." Ruby looked past Penny to where Yang had her arms in an 'x,' Weiss was running her hand under her throat, Alison was shaking her head, and Blake was waving her arms to indicate the negative. "Yeah, sure... why not?"

Time seemed to stop for the other girls as they all simultaneously fell over.

Penny, on the other hand, was overjoyed. "Sen-sational!" Penny cried, laughing out loud. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby groaned before turning to a now rising Weiss. "Was this what it was like when you met me?" she muttered.

"No," said Weiss, grumpily "she seems _far _more coordinated." That was partially true, but there was something about this girl that, in a way, reminded her of her partner. She was just... mission something.

"So..." said Yang, somewhat awkwardly. "What are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny responded instantly.

"Wait," said Weiss "You're fighting in the tournament?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said with a grandiose salute.

"Forgive me," said the heiress "but you hardly look the part."

Blake scoffed. "Says the girl wearing a dress."

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed. "It's a combat skirt!"

Ruby was next to her in less than a second. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, high fiving her partner, much to the amusement of Yang and Alison.

That's when Weiss realized something. "Wait a minute." She said, approaching and grabbing Penny by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"

Alison didn't need her semblance of accuracy to notice Blake's face falling into a glare in the heiress' direction. She quietly approached Yang and pulled her close to whisper in her ear. "We should get out of here before this gets worse."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

Alison was about to explain when a full-blown argument erupted between Weiss and Blake over the nature of that stow-away faunus and the faunus people in general, with Weiss comparing all faunus to the White Fang, and Blake demanding that the heiress show more respect. It only got worse when Weiss essentially called ALL faunus criminals.

"That's what I mean..." Alison muttered.

Before long, Blake looked like she wanted nothing more than to add some colour to Weiss' face with a hard slap. "You ignorant little brat!" she cried, turning to storm away, enraged.

The team stood in silent for what felt like an hour before Weiss broke it. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

Ruby, Yang and Alison watched awkwardly as Weiss and Blake continued their argument, even once they got on the airship back to Beacon they kept on arguing. Meanwhile, Ruby, Yang and Alison stood by, awkwardly watching and silently hoping they would stop. Any attempt to intervene was ignored entirely, no matter who tried.

Yang sighed, turning from the argument to the artist to her left. She might as well try to talk to Alison again, getting the usually silent girl to have a real conversation seemed easier at that moment than convincing Blake and Weiss to make nice."So," she began "how are things on your team?"

"Oh," Alison muttered "Things are pretty good. Maria's upset about something, but I'm not really sure what."

"The two of you are pretty close, huh?" Ruby asked, taking a new seat on Alison's other side.

Alison gave a small smile. "Yeah, she's good friend behind all that bravado."

"Glad to hear it." Said Yang. "You deserve a good friend."

Alison looked down with a small smile. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Speaking of good friends," Said Ruby "what about the rest of your team?"

"Yeah," Yang concurred "tell us about them."

"Well..." Alison muttered. "What would you like to know?"

"What about Francois?" Asked the young reaper.

"Well, he's a good guy." Said the artist.

Yang frowned. She could tell the other girl's heart wasn't in her words. "Is something wrong?" The blonde asked.

Alison turned away slightly. "It's nothing." She muttered. Alison wasn't normally a petty person, but if she were to be honest with herself, she could only describe her feelings toward the nobleman as jealous. She envied the relationship that was blossoming between him and Velvet while she had just the other day started to talk to the one she desired again. She knew the feeling was ridiculous. She should have been happy for them, but a part of her just... couldn't do that.

Yang could tell the other girl didn't want to talk about this right now, maybe it would be best to move on to who she really wanted to talk about. "What about Thatch?"

Alison's head came up in surprise at the name. "What about him?" she mumbled, her face turning just red enough for Yang to notice. She wasn't sure, however, if it was in anger or embarrassment.

"What do you think of him?" the brawler asked, her sister leaning in to listen.

Alison bit her lip as she thought of what to say. "Well," she began, hesitating slightly. "he's nice, I guess."

"Didn't you meet him even before Maria?" Yang asked "I mean, I saw the two of you sitting together for a bit during the first night in the ballroom."

"I guess you could say that." The artist said. "He was the first person at Beacon to really notice me. Everyone else tended to avoid the odd, quiet girl with the sketch pad."

Yang gave a short snort of laughter. "Yeah, you'd never guess that behind that badass front there was a nice guy."

"Yeah." Alison muttered with a sad smile. "How are things between the two of you?"

The brawler's face was a mask of confusion. "Uh, what?"

Alison mirrored Yang's expression. "Aren't the two of you..." She hesitated as she thought of the right word, eventually settling on the term used by the ever so eloquent Nora. "You know... _together?"_

Yang's face rapidly changed from confusion to understanding, and finally to amusement as she let out a loud laugh. "Wait wait, wait." She said in between her laughter. "You thought Thatch and I were _together?"_

Alison's face went red as she scrambled for a satisfactory answer. "But, you were... and you... but... what about your past at Signal?"

Yang clapped Alison on the back, causing the artist to lurch forward in pain at the power of the blow. "Thatch and I might have been friends at Signal, but we never even dated."

"Why not?" Alsion inquired, face going red as she realized she had been wrong about the two of them.

"Dating involves settling down," the brawler explained "and that's just not something I'm willing to do."

Alison gave a small smile as her face got even redder. This did not escape Ruby. "Ooh, someone's blushing. Who knew our favourite good girl would fall for the bad boy."

"Sh-shut up!" Alison stammered as the sisters burst out laughing.

"How dare you say that?!" Weiss demanded loudly, bringing Yang Ruby and Alison back into the real world. Seems this argument would take a while.

oxoxoxo

Maria took a deep breath as she approached the elevator to the office of Professor Ozpin. She had spent her entire day building herself up for this very moment. The hardest parts had seemed to be over, but this was worse than anything she had previously done.

She had ensured that her team would not intervene. Alison was still down in the city with Team RWBY, there was no reason she'd need to see her leader at her lowest point. Francois was shooting targets to impress Velvet, effectively getting him out of her way for the rest of the night. Finally, Thatch was playing a game of cards against team CRDL, and while normally she'd be against this, as far as she figured, Cardin and his team still owed her for pain and suffering in the caves at initiation.

With a deep breath, the centurion pressed the call button and awaited the inevitable arrival of the elevator. As the doors opened and she stepped in, she turned to look back out. She still had time to stop and go back to her room.

_No. _She decided. _I need to do this._

And so, with a face of determination and a pang of guilt she watched as the doors closed behind her. There was no going back now.

oxoxoxo

Little did Maria know, but Alison was back on campus.

The second the airship had landed, Yang had suggested that Alison go and find Thatch. She said this for two reasons: one, so that she could get the artist as far from Weiss and Blake as possible, and two, so that they could enjoy some time together. So, going on the word of a few other students, Alison made her way to the library where she found Thatch. The renegade sat at a round table with all four members of Team CRDL, the cards scattered across the table mixed with his grin and the scowls of the other team were a clear indicator of what had just happened.

It wasn't long before he caught sight of her and shot her one of his trademark smiles. He turned back to the other team and began to collect all the cards. "Right then lads, that's all for tonight, let me know if you're eagle to lose more in the near future."

Alison giggled to herself at Team CRDL's muttered curses and glares in his direction. As the four other boys left, Alison approached her teammate. "Just how much did you win from them?" she quietly asked.

Thatch smiled at her. "Not that much, I'm pretty sure they were sorer about the loss than they were about what they lost."

"And just how often did they lose?" The artist inquired.

Thatch thought for a moment. "Not sure, but we've been playing for about two hours now and I haven't lost yet. These guys really need to work on their poker faces."

Alison smiled at the renegade. "How did you get this good?"

"I used to work security jobs on cargo ships." said Thatch "The skills you pick up when you work said jobs include, but are not limited to, playing cards and developing a good poker face."

"Did you ever get to fly one of those ships?" Alison asked, interested.

"Well, that's not something you usually pick up on security detail," Alison pouted slightly in disappointment at his words. "But, airship piloting is a course I took at Signal, and mentioning that to a captain did get me behind the wheel of a dust plane or two. I won't bore you with the details or flatter myself too much, but I was a pretty good pilot when they let me."

Alison giggled and picked up the deck. "And what about cards? How good were you at that?"

"Well," Thatch began "As bad as I beat those idiots, I'd be crushed by most of the men I worked with."

The artist smirked as she began to deal the cards. "Care to see how you fare against someone else?"

Thatch leaned in with a grin. "I'd hate to take anything from you."

"Then let's just play for fun." Said Alison as she looked at her cards. "Fun, and perhaps pride."

oxoxoxo

Maria stood motionless in the elevator to Ozpin's office, her hand hovering over the button that would take her to him. Something was stopping her every time she tried; the faces of her teammates, of Jaune, of herself, one of them would flash before her eyes right before she could hit the button. Could she really do this to someone?

Maria shook her head to clear it. This was what she needed to do. Jaune would be killed otherwise.

But was that it? She had seen him in combat, and he had definitely improved since Pyrrha took him under her wing.

But how much could she be trusted? For all Maria knew, her rival had a hand in every single one of Arc's victories.

But the boy was still learning.

But was it enough?

But then again, that wasn't what she was asking herself. The question was, was that the only reason she was reporting Jaune?

Maria shut her eyes and shook her head as she desperately tried to block out these thoughts. She shot out her hand and heard the distinctive 'ding' of an elevator button being pressed. Her eyes snapped open at the noise.

It was the wrong button.

oxoxoxo

Francois stood on the roof of the Beacon dorms, _Mademoiselle _gripped tightly in his hand in rifle form. At his side was Velvet and in her hands the controls to a clay nevermore launcher. The carcass of many a shattered clay bird lay at the base of the roof as the nobleman had been both practicing his aim and impressing his companion at the same time.

The launcher had one more bird left in it. The marksman turned to his companion and nodded as he looked back to the quickly darkening skyline. Before long, the clay bird flew out over the grounds of Beacon, and in less than two seconds, Francois had lined up a shot and fired, the remains of the bird falling to the ground to join its brethren.

With a smile of satisfaction, Francois flicked the safety on his rifle and took a seat against the wall, Velvet soon joining him. The two locked eyes for a moment, but neither spoke, both simply wishing to enjoy the other's company.

As the sun sank behind the horizon, Velvet turned to the nobleman. "There's something I should tell you, I'm just not sure how to put it."

"Is something wrong _mon cherie?" _The nobleman replied, concern in his eyes when he turned to look at the bunny.

"Well, you see..." Velvet muttered, a small smile on her face. "After I beat Cardin the other day, the school began looking over my grades, and my overall performance in class and... I've been put on a team."

"_C'est excellent!" _Francois exclaimed, but Velvet's smile fell slightly. "What's the problem?" the nobleman asked.

"The team I've been put on," Velvet began, hesitating slightly "It's a second year team. I've been moved ahead a year."

"I fail to see the problem." Francois replied.

"Well, I won't be able to see you or your teammates in my classes anymore." Velvet said sadly, looking down at her lap.

Francois gently tipped her face up to look at him, her chocolate brown eyes meeting his electric blue. "Velvet, it's far more important to me that you are happy, and being moved up to second year can only be something to be happy about. Your skills have been recognized, you're finally on a team of your own, and, most importantly, you're finally away from Cardin."

"He was always a bit of an ass..." Velvet muttered "But what about you and your team? What about RWBY and JNPR?"

"You forget, _mon cherie, _we all live here." The marksman replied with a smile. "We'll still be here for you, just at a little more of a distance."

Velvet's smile could have lit up the night, her eyes brightening as tears began to leak out. The voice in her head that told her Francois wasn't what he seemed was being drowned out by her own happiness.

"Are you okay?" Francois asked.

Velvet said nothing, simply nodding once before leaning up to plant a kiss on the nobleman's lips, wrapping her arms around him as she did. Francois' eyes widened in surprise at first, but ever so slowly he relaxed, returning the embrace of the bunny faunus. In a few seconds the two of them separated, locking eyes in silence as each one searched for the right words.

After a while it was Velvet who broke the silence. "It's getting a bit late, would you care to walk me back to my room?"

Francois replied by rising to his feet and holding out a hand to the faunus girl who gladly accepted it and was pulled to her feet. The two stood silently once again, simply gazing into each other's eyes, the orbs glowing as if powered by the sun itself, the light of the shattered moon bathing them in pale white light.

The silence was soon broken, however, by the sound of frantic footsteps. Both Francois and Velvet turned to where the noise had come from to see a shadowy figure running through the grounds of Beacon. Francois drew his rifle, the safety on, and looked through the scope at the figure, Velvet, with her faunus night vision was easily able to identify the figure, even without a scope.

"What's Blake doing out here?" Velvet wondered.

"I do not know." Francois muttered as he continued to watch. His eyes widened slowly as Blake removed her bow, ever so slowly pulling off the black garment. Beneath it lay a pair of cat ears, each one perfectly covered by where the bow once was.

Velvet and Francois shared a shocked glance, neither one able to form words.

Words did eventually form in Francois' mind, however. Could this have been how she knew Lucius?

By the time the two of them looked back, the girl was gone. Francois turned to Velvet and said what both were thinking: "Team RWBY needs to hear about this.

Velvet nodded and the two ran to the team's room.

oxoxoxo

When Francois and Velvet reached Team RWBY's dorm, one thing they didn't expect was to find Team JNPR sitting in the hallway, Pyrrha with her hand on the Jaune's shoulder as the knight looked shocked and numb, eyes blank and his mouth hanging open. Even more surprising was seeing Thatch and Alison standing by them, Thatch with his eyes full of barely constrained rage, and Alison looking like she was about to cry.

"What happened?" the Faunus girl asked.

Pyrrha looked up from Jaune at the words, but when she attempted to speak, no sound was produced.

"I'll tell you what happened," Thatch growled, every note in his voice sounding like he wanted to strangle someone. "Jaune here might just be expelled from Beacon, and it's all our fearless leader's fault!"


	26. The Choice Must Be Made

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 22**

**oxoxoxo**

Ozpin sat at his desk, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Around him were his most trusted staff members and comrades: Glynda Goodwitch, Peter Port, Bartholomew Oobleck, Erik Fantine and Curtis Marlow. He had called them all here for a reason, he always did, and they wanted to know what that reason was.

After nearly an eternity of silence, broken only by the churning of the gears in Ozpin's office, the professor spoke. "Thank you all for coming. I call to you all at this time because I'm in need of your counsel."

"What's the problem sir?" Oobleck blurted out, one word melding into the next as he spoke.

The headmaster let out a heavy sigh as he spoke, something that concerned his companions quite a bit. "It seems one of our students may have faked their way into this academy."

The collective disbelief from the assembled professors was felt by all, but none of them expressed it very overtly. Glynda raised a brow, Port folded his arms and grunted, Oobleck took a long drink from his thermos, Marlow scratched his chin, and Fantine's eyes widened. For the first time in anyone's memory, the professor looked surprised. "What... what do you plan to do?" He stammered.

Ozpin looked down at his desk before opening a drawer and pulling out a folder with a familiar blonde face on it. "Mister Jaune Arc." He said, placing the file on his desk. Marlow's eyes widened at the appearance of the folder. "Apparently, his transcripts were falsified, and while he seems to be improving by a great margin since he arrived here, I'm... unsure of what to do with him now. What do you all think?"

The room was silent to begin, but before long, Glynda spoke. "I hate to say it, but I think the boy should be expelled. He's a good boy, but he's going to get himself killed here."

"I disagree, my dear Glynda." Said Port. "The Arcs are a mighty line of heroes and warriors of legend. While the boy may seem a tad unskilled, I just know he can rise to the occasion."

"And what if he does not?" asked Oobleck. "Should the boy have not inherited his father's skill, his lack of preparation and proper training will be the end of him."

"Can we please not mention his father?" Marlow said in a strained whisper, eyes lowered.

"Oobleck has a point." Said Glynda. "The boy has no proper training, and while Beacon may be a school for the best hunters, we've always begun with a trained student."

"My dear Glynda, you're wrong on both accounts." Said Fantine, mouth set in a frown, something rather unbecoming of him to anyone who knew who he was. "The boy isn't just being trained by us, the lovely miss Nikos has been working to improve his skills for quite some time now."

"That still does not excuse his lack of combat training!" The dust mage argued. "Beacon has never taken on a student with no prior formal training."

The phantom applied a hand to his face and shook his head before turning to the headmaster. "You never did tell them, did you?"

The other professors all turned as one to their headmaster. Ozpin let out a sigh before he spoke. "Erik did not attend a combat school. I trained him personally, but when I first met him, he was merely the homeless man who stole my wallet. I noticed a skill in him and made him an offer: allow me to teach him and work for me, and I would give him room and board."

"I don't think I ended up too bad, now did I Glynda." Fantine gloated, glaring at his colleague.

"Erik is right." Said Marlow. "Give Jaune a chance to prove himself. He's improving more and more with both our help and that of his team."

"This may be true." Said Ozpin. "But even so, this is still a school and the rules therein still apply."

"Sir, with all due respect," Fantine began "you, of all people, should know that while combat schools can help build a warrior, they are not vital. You, all of you, spend so much time searching through the class records that you all too often overlook the talent right in front of you." All the professors in the room looked to the phantom at his words, the outburst completely contradicting the calm, cold and collected professor they knew. "This boy may be one of those overlooked for his record, so I ask you, give him a chance to prove himself. If you need to, put him on probation, but I ask you, do not expel him just yet."

Ozpin looked down at the boy's file on his desk. "What you say does ring true, Erik. However, I cannot simply ignore the rules of the academy I run because one of my professors asks nicely."

Marlow roughly shoved the other professors aside and slammed his hands down on Ozpin's desk, the headmaster looking up to meet the veteran's eyes. They were not filled with the wisdom and experience they usually held, but instead were wild and untamed. "You would end the legacy of an entire family, of an entire line of warriors and heroes, because the rules say so?" he demanded.

Ozpin, to his credit, did not flinch once as the veteran roared at him. "If I must, I will." Marlow's eyes narrowed. The red coated professor shoved the file to the floor and stormed out without a word. The headmaster sighed. "That will be all for now, I suppose." He said quietly.

"Sir," said Fantine, completely evenly. "I beg you to reconsider."

"You don't sound like you're begging him." Said Glynda.

Fantine turned to her, his unmasked eye glowing a bright blue and his face set in a permanent glare. Suddenly, the room began to shift. Before the eyes of the dust mage and her fellow professors, the room changed from a welcoming office to the abandoned ruins of what was once a city. "You recognize this, don't you? Mountain Glenn, one of the most dangerous places in the kingdom." Port and Oobleck instinctively reached for their weapons, only for the phantom to turn to them and speak once again. "Relax, this is only an illusion. However, I led my team into this wasteland many a time, a team, need I remind you, I formed myself and trained entirely on my own. A team I formed from those overlooked by the rest of Vale." Several Grimm assembled behind Fantine, but he continued to speak. "Across all those missions in this hell hole and beyond, do you know how many casualties we suffered? None!" He roared, reaching up and tearing off his mask to reveal the scarred flesh beneath. Running from his forehead across his eye and down his cheek was a line of three lacerations, a scar that would never heal, and would be a constant reminder of his last mission. "In the last Grimm Incursion, while Marlow and his team's armies marched across Vale, wiping out hordes of the foul beasts, you sent me and my team after priority targets. We both know just what beast inflicted these marks on me Ozpin, but yet, my team, a team you and Glynda would have expelled, defeated _everything _thrown at us-"

"Enough." Ozpin declared, interrupting the phantom.

Erik sighed heavily and the illusion faded, the occupants of the room visibly relaxing as it did. "I apologize sir. I have nothing but respect for you, but I disagree with your decision." With those words, Fantine replaced his mask and silently left the room, turning around in the elevator to shoot one final glare at Ozpin and Glynda.

Glynda grit her teeth at the phantom as he left. "Why would you ever hire someone like that?" she demanded at her boss.

Ozpin only sighed in response. In one motion, he had managed to anger two of his most trusted friends, and he knew neither would forget what he had done.

oxoxoxo

Maria's worst fears had just been realized. Her turning the boy in, while the most logical choice, was both the hardest thing she had ever done, and a massive mistake on her own part. She currently sat alone in her team's room, silently looking out the window. It was through that window that she had heard Jaune's confession to Pyrrha, those words that began it all. She tried to convince herself that she made the right choice, but every time she thought back on it, there was something nagging at the back of her mind that made her question it. If it was the right choice, why was it so hard to make?

The right choices are never easy.

But if it was made for the reasons she said it was, it shouldn't have been. It would have been easy if it were a choice to save his life. That brought about another disturbing question: was there possibly another reason she made this choice?

Her musings were interrupted by the opening of the door. Maria turned, ready for anything that could be on the other side, from the inevitable rage from Thatch, to the disapproving glare of Francois or even Pyrrha demanding answers. What she was not prepared for was what was actually presented in the open door. It was her partner. Her first companion in this school and the closest friend she had.

At least, that's what Alison once was, and by the look in her eye, she was no longer that girl. No, her green orbs were filled with sadness and doubt. The look she gave Maria broke the centurion's heart. "Alison?" she said, softly yet evenly.

The artist turned to look at her partner, the look in her eye showing sadness and disappointment, but yet, not a trace of anger. That was probably what hurt Maria most. When she spoke, it was a single word: "Why?"

Maria gave a heavy sigh before she fell back on her bed. "It was the right thing to do, Alison."

The artist said nothing, merely turning away sadly. Maria sighed. This would only get worse. If her teammates even returned to her, she could already tell they would never see her the same way again.

oxoxoxo

Marlow stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him as he did. He marched over to his desk and instantly opened a drawer to find the picture of his old team. He looked into the face of his former leader and recalled his solemn vow that he made so long ago. He had sworn on his own life to keep the memory of his team – and especially his leader – alive after their deaths. And now, he was failing. Jaune's expulsion would mean the end of the Arc line. Arthur's legacy would die with him.

Marlow sank to the floor by his desk, leaning his back against the desk, one hand holding his balance against the floor while the other roughly grabbed his face. It was happening again. The memories from the battles at Ognoc were returning to him, no matter how hard he now tried to push them back. Upon his return from that fateful campaign, Ozpin and Ironwood had declared him unfit for combat and stripped him of his rank. Diagnosed with post traumatic stress, Curtis was allowed his job at Beacon, a job he received from his former commander Ozpin, on one condition. The veteran reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container, his shaking hands making the rattle of pills inside all the more obvious.

Marlow reached for the cap, but hesitated as he did. Several unpleasant shots flew through his head at once. The faces of his teammates as they died, those of the other professors who were willing to kill the legacy of a family of heroes for paperwork, that of Arthur's wife as he delivered the news of his death. The worst part of it all, was echoing over it all was the voice of Ozpin over the radio as he denied them the airships that could have saved their lives. _'I'm sorry Arthur, but we can't risk that at this time.'_

His eyes snapped open as he rose to his feet and ran to the other side of his desk. Reaching for the long and thin bottom drawer, Marlow inserted the key and roughly hauled it open, the light of its contents immediately illuminating the room. He knew he was still unworthy to even touch it, but the glow filled him with a new confidence as he steeled himself for what needed to be done. He would protect his teammate, his leader, his friend at all costs.

With that thought, Marlow hurled his bottle of pills at the wall of his office, not even wincing as it shattered on the wall.

oxoxoxo

Erik Fantine quietly stepped into his office, the door closing silently behind him, and his footsteps barely making a sound as he entered his elegant workspace, his piano sitting in one corner, the black and red painted walls and sparse lighting giving the room an air of class, but also made it slightly off-putting.

Fantine ignored all of this, and without a word he made his way to his desk, pulling out a picture of his team, a photo of him and three women in combat attire, the letters beneath the picture reading FRST. Team Frost, the originally unofficial team formed by him under the eye of Ozpin, his teammates being deemed useless by their former leaders, sometimes for a lack of proper paperwork – as was the current case with Arc – or due to their own leader's stupidity. He had taken four who would have otherwise been dismissed from service – just as he would have without his refuge from Ozpin – and formed them into a secret team, answering only to Ozpin himself and unknown to all others.

Now, however, in denying Arc his chance at this academy on the basis of paperwork, Erik could take this as a direct insult to him. After all, paperwork on the phantom didn't even exist. There was no mistake to be made, Fantine had no love for the boy, and unlike his companion he saw no reason to uphold every legend ever placed on a pedestal. No, Fantine's interest in keeping the boy present was strictly based in personal ideals, albeit ones he held close to his heart, and ones Ozpin was about to demolish.

Just because one didn't go to combat school did not strip them of any and all merit, and seeing as the Arc boy had been improving more and more in recent days, especially with the help of Nikos. No, the boy should definitely be given a chance, but Fantine knew it would take a lot of convincing to change Ozpin's mind if he chose to have the boy removed. Convincing that perhaps he could provide.

oxoxoxo

Blake Belladonna, having replaced her bow over her cat ears sat opposite the stow away monkey faunus from two days ago, the boy having introduced himself to her as Sun Wukong after their escape from the Beacon grounds. The two of them had taken seats at a cafe in Vale, both having received their coffee over two minutes ago, Blake merely looking into hers while Sun held his with his tail and swilled the liquid within. The boy had been trying to start a conversation with her for two days no, but Blake, being nervous after inadvertently revealing her past to Weiss, had barely said a word for the entire weekend. Blake decided that after two days of not speaking to him, even after he helped her off the Beacon grounds, she owed him at least something. It was with a sip of her coffee and a deep breath that she looked up to the anxious looking monkey and finally spoke to him. "So," she said, hesitating slightly. "You want to know more about me?"


	27. Showdown at the Docks

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 23**

**oxoxoxo**

Two days.

They had given Blake two days to come back to Beacon on her own, and since she hadn't and no one had been able to find her, the remainder of Team RWBY had taken to the streets along with Francois Delatrois in an attempt to find her. The three girls had taken to the streets to search for their teammate while Francois had left, saying he could track down some information on where she might have gone. When the girls asked where he was going, he simply answered with "It's better if you don't know." He mentioned it was somewhere he learned about during his days with the police.

In any case, Ruby Yang and Weiss had been patrolling the streets of Vale in search of their companion, Ruby and Yang repeatedly calling out to her in hopes she'd hear it. Weiss, on the other hand, was remaining silent, merely following behind the other girls. "Weiss," Ruby whined "you're not helping!"

"Oh, you know who might be able to help?" Weiss retorted. "The police."

Ruby folded her arms and glared at her partner. "Weiss..."

"It was just an idea!" The heiress shot back.

"Yeah, a bad one." Ruby muttered, walking away. She was determined to keep her team together for as long as she could.

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions." Yang insisted. She knew the meaning of what her partner had admitted last night – she essentially admitted to her involvement in a terrorist group – but she at least wanted to hear her out.

"I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right." Weiss declared. Blake's involvement with a group that wanted to see her family – and her species – destroyed was not something she was willing to forget.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" Said Penny from behind them.

The girly nearly fell over in shock as they spun around to meet the odd girl "Gah! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby demanded, surprised.

"Hey guys!" Penny responded, ignoring Ruby's question. "What are you up to?"

Ruby was unsure of how to respond to this girl, but fortunately for her, Yang was willing to answer for her. "We're looking for our friend Blake."

"Oh," Said Penny "You mean the faunus girl."

There was a moment of silence after that line where the three girls looked at Penny in confusion.

"Wait," Ruby said, breaking the silence. "How did you know that?"

"Uh, the cat ears?" Penny replied.

"What cat ears?" Asked Yang. "She wears a..." All three girls collectively realized just how much they had been fooled. "bow..." Yang finished, muttering the word.

If the girls thought the silence from before was awkward, it was nothing compared to this. One could hear a pin drop, and a tumbleweed blew through the street in a gust of wind.

"She does like tuna a lot..." Ruby whispered.

"So, where is she?" Penny blurted out.

"We don't know." Ruby replied. "She's been missing all weekend."

Penny closed the distance between her and Ruby in a couple steps and grabbed the reaper by the shoulders with a gasp. "That's terrible! Well don't you worry, Ruby my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!"

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny," Ruby stammered, desperate to get away from her new 'friend.' "But w-we're okay, really, right guys?"

Unfortunately, when Ruby looked over to where her teammates had been standing, they had vanished, seemingly into thin air. Ruby could have sworn that the same tumbleweed from before had just blown through again.

"It sure is windy today." Penny chimed in.

Ruby sighed internally. _I hope Francois is doing better than we are._

oxoxoxo

All was relatively quiet in an old pub on the outskirts of Vale. The light of the afternoon sun was pouring in through the occasional open window, the bartender was polishing a glass behind the counter, and the patrons were enjoying their drinks at the bar.

It was a surprise then, when the door was kicked open and in marched a well dressed blonde man with a thin moustache in a blue greatcoat, a black, feathered wide brimmed hat and a sword sheathed at his belt. All eyes turned to him as he marched into the bar and took a seat at the counter. In his early days with the police, Francois had learned that this bar, the _Last Stop_, was always a good place to get information. He had known several detectives who had blown a case wide open by just listening in on what people were saying here. Francois knew that if anyone had seen Blake, they'd likely be here.

Francois could already feel the large, burly patron standing right behind him when the bartender, a large man with red hair and a trimmed beard, approached him. "What'll you have lad?" He asked, his irish accent obvious.

Francois took a look back at the large man behind him before turning back to the bearded bartender. "I'll take a bag of ice."

"That's an odd order there boyo." The bartender said. Nonetheless, he began to fill up a plastic bag with the requested ice. "What would you be plannin' to do with it?"

The nobleman was about to answer when the large patron roughly grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back off his seat. Without missing a beat, Francois elbowed the man in the gut, spun around and hooked him in the face, sending him to the floor. "It's for him." He said.

The bartender let out a loud laugh as he chucked the bag of ice to the marksman who dragged the unconscious patron to an empty booth, lay him across the seats and placed the bag over face, leaving him just enough room to breathe. When he returned to the bar, the bartender asked another question. "Haven't I seen you around here before?"

"_Je ne sais pas, mon ami." _Francois replied. "Perhaps I just have one of those faces."

"Perhaps. Though I highly doubt you just came here to beat on my customers, what is it you're here for?" The bartender asked.

Francois smirked as he took off his hat and rested it on the counter, his long, blonde hair spilling out from beneath it. "I guess you could say I'm looking for a girl." The nobleman said.

"Aren't we all, lad." The Bartender replied. "Can you tell me anything about her."

In response, Francois pulled out a photo of Blake and slid it across the bar to the bartender. "Have you seen her?" he asked.

The bearded man picked up the photo and examined it. Before long he returned it to the nobleman with a shrug of his wide shoulders. "Can't say I have, lad. Stick around for a little though, someone here might have, and patrons get awful chatty when they've had a few."

Francois nodded. "Can I get a glass of something non toxic?"

"Lookin' to stay vigilant, are we?" The bartender said, pouring the nobleman a glass of water.

"_Oui monsieur." _Francois replied, taking the glass. To the average patron, he looked no different from anyone else there since he removed his hat.

"Just take some time to listen in, lad." Said the bartender. That was when the two of them were drawn to the sound of the opening door. "I'll be back with you soon enough, boyo, got more customers to tend to." Francois nodded and cast his eyes down to his drink. He heard the sounds of the bartender's footfalls as he made his way to the new customers. "Welcome to the _Last Stop, _what can I do for you, lad?"

"I heard you hear about everything in this town, is that true?" Said the customer.

"Ye might have heard right, there." The Bartender responded. "It all depends what you want to know."

There was a brief moment of hesitation before the customer spoke again. "On my way into town I heard about a huge shipment of dust arriving in town tonight. That true?"

"Aye lad, that'd be tonight. Shipment from the Schnee quarry itself."

"You wouldn't happen to know which dock, or the name of the ship, would you?"

"I might happen to know that, boyo, but let me ask you this:" The bartender said, pulling out a small slip of paper and a pen. "Why would someone like you need to know that?"

"He doesn't." Said a voice that nearly made Francois spit his drink. "I do. I really wish I could say more, but you'll just have to trust me. I need to know this."

The nobleman, restraining himself from jumping out of his seat in shock, silently snuck a look at the source of the voice. There she was, eyes shooting around the bar, as though worried she might be followed. He only got a brief look before looking away again, but there was no question that it was Blake. She and another faunus with a monkey tail were talking to the bartender. He didn't hear what was said next, as both the bartender and Blake began speaking in low whispers. He'd have to find out what was said afterward.

Francois waited and listened until he heard the distinct sound of the door opening. He made a tentative glance up to see that it was indeed Blake and her companion who had left. Not waiting for the bartender to come back to him, Francois grabbed his hat, leapt out of his seat and ran up to the server. "What did you tell them?"

The bartender leaned in close to Francois and spoke in a deep whisper. "Lad, I don't know what any of you are up to, but I have a bad feeling about it."

"_Moi aussi, _that's why I need to follow them." Francois replied.

The bartender gave a grim nod and pulled out a pen and paper, just as he did before. "I'll give you the same information I gave them." He said, as he wrote down the dock number and time. He held it out to the nobleman, but as Francois reached out to take it, the bartender suddenly grabbed him by his coat and pulled him in for a hard glare. "Know this though: if I find out you hurt either of those two, and believe me, I'll know, I will find you and make you pay."

Francois nodded in understanding and took the slip. The nobleman placed his hat back on his head and made for the door. By the time he opened it, Blake and the other faunus were gone, but that was alright. After all, he knew exactly where they were going and when they'd get there.

oxoxoxo

Alison cast a glance back to her leader as she stood in the doorway. "Thatch and I are going to Team JNPR's room, we're going to see if we can convince Ozpin to allow Jaune to stay here."

Maria didn't reply, merely looking down into her lap in guilt as she sat on her bed.

Alison scowled at her leader. No matter what she did, she couldn't bring herself to truly be angry with her partner, but damned if she wasn't frustrating. The artist stalked over to the centurion and turned her head up to look her in the eyes. Alison's gaze was locked into hers as she asked a single question: "Why?"

Maria looked away from her partner as much as she could while the artist still held her head. "It was the right thing to do?"

"Was it really?" Alison asked accusingly. Maria tried even harder to look away. She had been asking herself the same question ever since she outed Jaune to Ozpin. The centurion rose to her feet and turned away from the artist in guilt.

Alison sighed and walked back to the door. "Wait!" Maria said, stopping the artist in her tracks. "Alison, I... I'm sorry."

Alison turned to her partner with an apologetic look in her eye. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to, Maria."

Now it was Maria's turn to sigh. "I know, but... I don't think I can face him after what I did." There was a pause as the two simply stood in the diminishing light of the evening. "I'm going to take a walk. If I'm not here when you get back, just call me on your scroll."

With those words, Maria grabbed her armour and weapons and pushed past her partner. "I think I might go to the Emerald Forest, hunt some Beowolves maybe."

Alison watched the retreating figure of her leader as she walked away. She stood, watching her for what felt like an hour before she made her way to the JNPR dorm. She reached up and knocked on the door. A few seconds later it was answered by Nora, the usually hyperactive girl seeming unusually grounded today as she silently beckoned Alison into the room. The artist nodded and stepped in, immediately moving to sit next to Thatch, the renegade's scowl from the previous day having softened considerably in her presence. She rested her head against his shoulder, looking up to see the ghost of a smile flash across his face before vanishing as he remembered the situation he was in. Alison looked back at Team JNPR, her eyes settling on Pyrrha in the end. "What's the verdict?" she asked.

The Amazon looked down to her still speechless leader as he sat on the floor. Jaune nodded and she turned back to the artist. "Jaune's been given a chance, but there's a catch. He has to take a test to prove his worth to Beacon."

"Well, that can't be too bad." Said Thatch. "We just have to help you pass this test."

"It does seem like a fairly simple matter." Said Ren, the martial artist putting a hand on the knight's shoulder in support.

Jaune looked up to him before shaking his head.

"It's not that simple." Said Pyrrha. "The test is to be taken on his own, with no assistance from any outsiders. Jaune will have to pass on his own, or not at all."

"Well then we'll help him prepare." Said Nora, hopefully.

"Yeah," said Thatch. "We can help you train for this test."

"You know, it might be a written test." Ren pointed out.

"Then we'll help him study." Said Alison.

"Thanks guys," Said Jaune, finally speaking after what seemed like two days of silence. "But, what if I'm just not good enough? I mean, you all went to combat school, you're all trained just for this sort of work... I just grew up on stories of my dead dad."

Pyrrha looked up at Jaune. "Jaune, you're forgetting just how much you've improved since we've been training together. You may have come here with just the stories of your father, but in the time you've been here you've gotten so much better."

"I don't know Pyrrha." Jaune muttered. "A few months of training with you can't be enough to match years of combat school. What if I'm really not ready for this school?"

Pyrrha put a hand on her leader's shoulder and shot him a smile. "We'll just have to find out, won't we." She said. Jaune, however, didn't react as she hoped, the knight instead lowering his head to gaze at the floor. The room went silent, an air of hopelessness beginning to descend on the group.

That was when the ground shook as a massive _**BOOM **_was heard. The students rushed to the window to see the remains of a large mushroom cloud over the Emerald Forest, a swarm of black shapes flying out as the cloud faded.

The air was abuzz with noise as sirens blared, a computerized voice saying over the dorm PA _**"LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL INITIATED. ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REPORT TO THE NEAREST AVAILABLE ROOM AND REMAIN THERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE." **_That message was continually repeated over and over, the door to their room eventually locking and sealing them in. Alison knew what was going on. Lockdown protocol was only activated in the event of an attack on the school, sealing the school and the dorms so that none of the attackers could enter. The armed forces were then immediately notified and upon their arrival, they and the teachers would lead a counterattack. Until then, the teachers were ordered to remain in their offices. Alison could only be thankful that her team was safe.

Then she realized they weren't. Thatch might have been here, but Francois was still in Vale, and Maria was-

Alison's heart sank. Maria was still on her walk.

In the Emerald Forest.

oxoxoxo

Francois lay prone as he watched the vale docks through the scope of his rifle from the top of a dockside warehouse. Blake and her companion lay atop another building, seemingly waiting for something. He sincerely hoped she wasn't waiting for the dust shipment. If she turned out to be a white fang member...

The nobleman banished the thought from his mind as he returned to his watch. The docks were eerily silent, and as he couldn't hear the words Blake and the boy were saying, his only company was his own mind.

That was when someone else arrived. A Bullhead dropship descended on the shipyard, its spotlight scanning for any life below and the wind from its engines scattering dust around its landing zone. Francois instantly focused his attention on the opening doors of the ship, wondering just who was inside. His question was soon answered as the door opened and the ramp was lowered. Stepping out of the dropship were several figures in white and black hooded robes with masks covering the tops of their faces. Francois' attention was immediately drawn to the blood red wolf's head symbol on their backs. It was unmistakable. The White Fang had arrived.

Francois could only turn to Blake and watch her reaction. The cat faunus' face sank lower and lower into despair with every passing moment as more and more of the faunus extremists exited the dropship into the shipyard.

"HEY!" Cried a voice from within the ship. Marching out from the now opened door was... Francois could only take a second look in confusion. What was a human doing leading the White Fang. "What's the holdup? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous group of thieves at the moment, so, why don't you animals try and pick up the pace?" That's when the nobleman recognized the speaker. White coat, red hair covering one of his eyes, black bowler hat and a grey and black cane. There was only one man in Vale who matched that description: the wanted criminal Roman Torchwick.

The fact that he was here could only mean trouble. Things only got worse when he looked back to Blake and the other faunus, the cat girl having drawn her blade and leapt off the building to approach the White Fang. _"Merde." _He muttered to himself. Blake would be destroyed on her own. It was time to call for help. EMAD was too far off, so there was only one other option. Francois pulled out his scroll and dialled the number of Weiss Schnee.

"_Hello?" _the heiress answered after what felt like an eternity.

"Weiss, I don't have much time to talk. I found Blake, but I've encountered problems. She's trying to stop a White Fang operation at the city docks on her own. I need you to get your teammates down here as soon as possible-" That was as far as Francois got before an arrow shot the communicator out of his hand. He turned to the source of the shot to find a girl in custom White Fang robes standing before him.

She was slightly shorter than Ruby, and her robe was completely white, with a single coattail running down her back, the robe and tail both decorated with a scale pattern. The hood was another distinct feature, since she had a white hood with two points resembling the fangs of a snake poking out, her Grimm mask just visible from beneath the fanged hood. Then there was the symbol on her chest: the symbol of the White Fang held aloft by a pair of intertwined serpents. Finally, there were the twin crossbows mounted on her wrists, each one strapped to her arm by a bracer and one of which was still pointed at him, having just fired its bolt. "Your call seems to have been disconnected." She hissed at him.

Francois rose to his feet and aimed his rifle at her. "That was a brand new scroll." He muttered.

"I don't think you'll mind the loss very much." The extremist said. "In fact, I think you're going to leave right now and forget you saw any of this."

Normally Francois would have shot back a cunning response somewhere along the lines of 'no,' but as he tried to, he noticed he couldn't. The words of this girl were echoing in his mind and he just couldn't get them out of his head.

That was when he realized that this must be a part of her semblance. She was effecting his mind, making him _want _to give up and go home, forget he saw any of this. He struggled to form words, but none would come. He was slowly beginning to lose his will to fight. _Wait, willpower, that's it!_ He had one last shot, and it was a longshot at best.

"That's what I thought." The snake said as the nobleman closed his eyes and looked down. "Now, you're just going to walk away."

**(Author's Note. Music begins here. Song: Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top)**

Francois smirked and opened his eyes again, the snake gasping as she saw them glowing with a vibrant, golden light. "I think not, _mademoiselle." _He said, raising his rifle. He had never been more thankful his semblance could boost his own morale as well as those of his companions. "Now," he said, raising his rifle. "where were we?"

Before he could even line up a shot, the snake girl fired off her other bolt and charged toward him, two foot blades extending from the bottoms of her bracers. Francois could only dodge the bolt and shift _Mademoiselle _to rapier form to parry the swift and savage strikes of the snake girl.

Francois leapt back from a particularly vicious attack and stabbed at the girl, his superior reach allowing him to just graze her cheek before she was able to dodge. The girl stumbled back, putting a hand up to her face to examine the wound as Francois fell back into his fighting stance. That was when an explosion rocked the shipyard, drawing the attention of the nobleman to Torchwick who had used the firepower of his cane to blow Blake away from him.

That distraction was all the time the assassin needed as she spat at the face of the marksman, Francois only catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, and even then he only managed to close his eyes to avoid it. In his moment of blindness, the assassin leapt on him and thrust her right blade right for his heart. The blow shoved Francois back, his armoured breastplate the only thing saving his life. He stumbled as he was hit and fell to the ground. He knew that he would never fool her into thinking he was dead, he rolled to the side, leapt to his feet and wiped the liquid off his face, opening his eyes just in time to notice the snake striking again and giving him time to jump back.

The nobleman thrust his blade forward again, making continuous strikes as he begin to go on the offensive, using the superior range of his weapon to his advantage. It seemed, however, that the girl was counting on this as she managed to catch his blade between hers and force it away. The snake leapt at the nobleman with a bite, but Francois leaned out of the way and kicked her off his sword. The snake fell to the ground with the kick and Francois moved in to finish her off. The second he reached her, the marksman planted a boot on her chest and held the point of his blade to her throat.

"Wait!" the snake cried out. "You can't just kill me!"

Francois was about to demand a good reason why not to, but then a thought crossed his mind: why would he? What had she done to deserve it? He only realized too late that she was tricking him again, and before he could even move his blade she spat her venom again, forcing the noble to lean out of the way and giving her time to rise to her feet and throw him to the ground.

"Now," she said. "Now you'll deeply regret not leaving when I gave you the chance." The assassin extended her blades, and stepped towards Francois to finish him off. That was when the docks were shaken by the resounding crash of two bullheads, motion shaking the ground and knocking the assassin off balance. Francois and her both rose to their feet, but their attention was immediately drawn to below, where a small girl with red hair in a grey and white dress seemed to be pulling another dropship with her mind.

Torchwick knew when a heist was ruined and bolted for his ship, taking off the second he heard the other one crash.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Francois and the assassin had both returned to their fighting stances, neither one wanting to make the first move as they stared each other down.

The snake glared through her mask at her opponent. This noble brat was proving surprisingly strong, but she knew that she could best him.

That was when her earpiece sounded. _"Wun, the operation is a bust, we're retreating."_

"Roman, I can still do this." She growled back.

"_I don't care. Get your scaly tail to the dropship or I'm leaving you here."_

Wun looked to the side to see Torchwick's incoming ship. She knew that he would make good on his promise to leave her here if she didn't go. Turning to her opponent, the snake spat another shot of venom at him. The nobleman leapt out of the way, giving her time to flee. The snake assassin leapt off the warehouse onto the dropship as it passed, shooting one last glare at the nobleman as she climbed in and the ship flew off. Francois watched after her as the ship flew away. She'd be trouble in the future, he just knew it.

Returning his gaze to the shipyard, he watched as Ruby leapt off another building to run up and embrace Blake, the young team leader ecstatic to see her teammate again. Francois gave a small smile. At least something had gone right tonight.

oxoxoxo

It didn't take long for Weiss and Yang to arrive after that, both with urgent expressions on their faces. Ruby tried to explain to Weiss that Blake wasn't a part of the White Fang, but the heiress covered her mouth and turned to the rest of the group gravely. "We've got a problem."

"What's wrong?" Francois asked.

Yang was the one to answer. "After you called us, Velvet called me to ask how you were doing since you hadn't answered your scroll. The call was interrupted by... well, by what sounded like an explosion."

"What?" Demanded Ruby.

"It gets worse." Said Weiss. "We tried to get into contact with her and others at Beacon, but no one is answering their scrolls, not even the teachers. Guys, something's wrong at Beacon."

**oxoxoxo**

**Well, the setup's done, and the action has begun.**

**What was the explosion at Beacon?**

**Who's responsible?**

**Will Jaune get kicked out of Beacon?**

**And just who was it that Francois fought?**

**Well, allow me to answer that last question quite simply: I plan on making a sequel to this story that takes place during season two of RWBY. It will include elements of the original story, plus a storyline I've created myself. What does this have to do with the assassin Francois fought? Well, I'm borrowing a few OCs I like from other RWBY stories and putting them in the sequel. This particular entry was Undaed15's Wun Sol. Want to know more about her? Well then I recommend his story **_**"Eight New Faces."**_

**Well, that's enough for now. Don't forget to review, it doesn't cost a dime, and it lets me know what you think I can improve on.**

**Also, another future project I want to work on, a story on the Grimm Incursion starring the teams of Marlow and Fantine and their exploits.**


	28. To Battle

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 24**

**oxoxoxo**

Beacon was in chaos.

The explosion in the Emerald Forest had not only set off the lockdown protocol, but also collapsed a section of the forest into the caves below, releasing hordes of Draculings into the air. From where Maria Gaia was stranded outside the school, she could also see Goliath Widows emerging from the caverns, as well as Nevermores circling overhead, attracted to the chaos and hoping to snatch some easy prey. As Maria stood on the cliff overlooking the forest, feeling overjoyed that she had remembered to bring her weapons with her, a rocket lockers could easily attract unwanted attention. If her team were here she would have no problems charging in and meeting the Grimm head on, but on her own she would have to settle for lying low and only fighting in self defence. The less attention she attracted on her own in a massive forest of Grimm and whoever was attacking the school the better, and with lockdown protocol in place, there was no way she was getting back onto campus anytime soon.

oxoxoxo

"What do you mean 'something's wrong?'" Ruby demanded.

"I don't know you dolt!" Weiss shot back. "No one's answering their scrolls, not even the professors, and that noise on the other end of Velvet's call was not a good sign."

"Well then we need to get back there and find out." Said Blake, the monkey faunus who had introduced himself as Sun nodding in agreement.

"One slight problem:" Yang interjected. "The next airship back to Beacon leaves in half an hour, how are we supposed to get back?"

The students cast their eyes about the shipyard, looking for anything that might get them to Beacon quicker than that. The first call came from Sun. "Hey guys, seems the White Fang left this behind." The girls and Francois turned to look at the monkey who was gesturing with his thumb to a relatively undamaged bullhead dropship. "You think they left the keys in it?"

"That would be great and all," said Weiss "but do any of you know how to fly one of those?"

The silence following Weiss' question was deafening as the girls collectively realized that not one of them had any idea how to fly anything. Francois applied palm to face. "I should have dragged Thatch out here with me." He muttered, knowing the renegade had experience in flying airships.

"Well, we need to get back somehow." Said Yang. "I guess I'll drive." The others turned to her in an instant, their expressions ranging from confused to terrified. "What?"

"Don't take this too personally," Blake began "But that'll probably get us all killed."

"Oh, come on guys, I'm not that bad." Yang said, attempting to defend herself.

"Why do you think we should put our lives in your hands?" Weiss demanded.

"Well, I've driven a car and a motorcycle..." Said Yang, slightly awkwardly. "And Thatch told me a bit about piloting an airship before."

"Well, it seems that's the best we've got." The entire group turned to see that it was Ruby who had spoken, the younger girl's usually cheerful and carefree expression replaced with one of determination, her silver eyes as hard as steel. "If Yang says she can get us to Beacon, we have to trust her."

Weiss looked at her partner like she was crazy, but slowly realized that she was right. If something bad was going on at Beacon, the half hour wait for an airship could be too late. "So long as you promise not to do anything crazy while we're on board." The heiress said, glaring daggers at the blonde. For once, Yang had no snappy comeback, merely a determined nod. Weiss sighed and turned back to Ruby, her expression softening. "Then I guess I'm in."

"I can't just let Beacon down." Said Blake "I'm with you guys."

Sun shrugged. "If you guys are going on some kind of crazy mission, there's no way you're leaving without me."

Francois tipped his hat and smirked at Yang. "I can see why my partner thinks so highly of the two of you." Said the nobleman. "Count me in _mes amis."_

There was a beat of silence before Ruby's face split into its trademark smile. "ALRIGHT! Team RWBY is back together and better than ever!" The young girl then took off towards the dropship, her speed getting her to the door before the others had even started moving.

The first to follow her was, surprisingly, Weiss. The heiress cracked a smile and followed her partner. The others soon began to make their way to the ship as well, but Ruby barely paid them any mind, her attention focused solely on her partner. It seemed like just the other day that Weiss had been at her throat about her childishness, but now the fencer seemed willing to follow her into battle. Ruby could not have been happier with how their partnership had turned out.

Yang and Francois caught the eye contact between the two girls, both of them sharing a smirk about it as they entered the ship.

Yang made her way to the cockpit as the others took their seats and strapped in. Before too long, the ship's thrusters had engaged, the craft beginning to rise as the engines engaged. In less than a half a minute, the bullhead was on the move, Yang choosing the least dense path back to Beacon. "Strap in guys." The brawler said over the ship's PA. "It shouldn't take too long to get to Beacon, but things might get a little... bumpy..."The hunters in training gave a collective gulp at that statement.

It was at that moment that Ruby realized something: Penny was gone. Thinking back, the girl had disappeared soon after Weiss and Yang had arrived, and with them too caught up in trying to get to Beacon, they had completely forgotten about her. The reaper shook her head to clear it. Penny would probably be fine, she told herself. The girl had single handedly brought down several ships and even more armed terrorists, she could surely handle whatever happened to her. Right, she would be popping out of nowhere in no time at all. Ruby knew it all sounded pretty desperate, but after seeing what the odd girl was capable of, she was more than willing to believe she would be alright. And besides, they had more pressing issues to attend to.

While most were content to wait out the flight in silence, one passenger in particular had something she needed to get off her chest. "Blake," Said Weiss, getting the attention of the black clad girl. "In the time it took for us to look for you, I've had some time to think about... what you said at the dorm. And in that time, I've decided..." Weiss paused as she searched for the right words, the cat faunus looking at her somewhat expectantly, the other students mimicking her look to the fencer. "I don't care." Weiss blurted out.

"You don't care?" Blake asked.

"You're not one of them anymore, are you?" Weiss asked.

"No," the faunus girl replied "I haven't been since I-"

"Ububububub." Weiss snapped, cutting her off. "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates, and not some..." The heiress looked to Sun as she tried to figure out just what word to use to describe him. "Someone else..." she eventually settled on.

Blake looked the heiress in the eye, seeing only a look of the utmost sincerity in her icy blue orbs. She couldn't believe it, even after everything the two of them had argued about, Weiss was willing to just let it all go for her. She looked to Ruby, who's expression, while happier, identically matched the look in Weiss' eyes. The cat girl tried to hide the tear she shed. "Of course." She said, it being the only thing she could do to keep her voice level.

"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" Weiss snapped, shoving a finger right in Sun's face. The monkey faunus chuckled awkwardly at the heiress' actions as other students hid their laughter.

Ruby could only smile. Leave it to Weiss to accidentally lighten the mood.

oxoxoxo

Alison sighed in frustration at her fourth attempted call to her still missing leader. She could still use her scroll's tracker to find Maria, the centurion was currently full on aura and sticking to the outskirts of campus according to her scroll, but she had been unable to contact her in any way. If she attempted a call, it would fail to connect. If she attempted a message, it would fail to send.

Thatch caught onto her nervousness almost instantly, the renegade placing a calming hand on her shoulder. "Still no luck?" He asked. Alison shook her head and let out another sigh. "Look, I'm sure Maria will be fine. She's a big girl, and her aura is still full."

Alison shook her head. "I know she's fine now, but what about later? The school might be under attack, and how many Grimm were released by that explosion? She's out there all on her own." Alison insisted, her voice growing quieter toward the end.

Thatch grit his teeth. In his heart, he wanted to be angry at Maria for what she did, throwing Jaune under the bus, but in his head, he knew that while he wasn't exactly happy with her, he couldn't just let her die alone out there. It was with a deep breath that he placed a hand on Alison's shoulder. "Come on, we're going to find her."

Alison looked at the renegade in confusion. "We can't just leave, Thatch." She said "What about the lockdown protocol?"

Thatch gave a slight smirk. "The protocol is designed to keep others out, not to keep us in." He said.

"You can't just go!" Said Pyrrha. "What if you get caught?"

"We've trained our whole lives for combat." Thatch said grimly. "We'll figure something out."

The room was silent, enough so that Alison could swear she heard a pin drop. The members of Team JNPR looked at them like they had gone mad. Training or no, there was no way to know just what might be out there, and if they just charged into it, there was no knowing if they would ever come back. After what felt like an eternity, Alison turned to the door, Thatch following close behind her. "When we leave, seal the door behind us." Alison said just loud enough to be heard as she picked up _Pianji. _

The response she got was from the most unexpected source of all. "No." Said Jaune.

"You're not stopping us, Jaune." Thatch said. "I know what she did to you was wrong, but that's no reason to let her die out there."

"I know." Jaune said, rising from his seat on the floor, a determined expression on his face. "I'm not stopping you. I'm going with you."

"What?" Cried Nora.

Ren looked to his leader in surprise.

"Jaune," said Pyrrha "You know you don't need to do this. You don't owe Maria anything."

"Maybe not," The knight replied. "But Thatch and Alison are right, I can't just let her die out there over what she did to me." He took a deep breath as he walked over to join the remains of Team EMAD. "An Arc always helps his comrades, no matter what."

Pyrrha considered the words of her leader. "Jaune, I see your point, but I can't let you go."

"Don't try and stop me Pyrrha." Said Jaune.

"I'm not, I'm coming with you." Pyrrha said, stepping forward. "You'll all need all the help you can get out there."

"Then count me in!" Nora chimed, popping into the conversation.

"And me." Ren said simply, storing _Stormflower _in his sleeves.

Thatch smirked and patted Jaune on the shoulder. "You've come a long way from Yang's 'Vomit Boy' Jaune. Seems you've got a good team behind you."

"Well, I've been told my team likes their leader." Jaune muttered awkwardly. "Now, let's go save yours."

oxoxoxo

Sirens blared through the halls of Beacon, but the halls themselves were bare. No students. No teachers. No attackers. The lights had been shut off in accordance with the lockdown protocol, the only light entering the building coming from the moonlight streaming in the windows.

A door opened, and a figure stepped out. Red coat, brown hair, and twin swords identified it as Professor Curtis Marlow as he stepped out of his office, his face a mask of determination. He looked out into the halls, and upon seeing them empty stepped out, one hand holding one of his pistols, aiming it around every corner he rounded.

Quietly, cautiously, the veteran made his way through the darkened halls of the academy, eyes peering about to spot any other life in the halls. It seemed it was all for naught, however, as the school was completely empty, the only thing breaking the silence being the repeated alarms. Soon enough, however, the alarms deactivated, plunging the empty halls of Beacon into complete silence. Marlow barely noticed, however, as he advanced ever further. Soon enough, his objective was in sight: the elevator to Ozpin's office.

Suddenly, he stopped dead, a sense of dread running up his spine. It was a familiar sense. "I know you're there Erik!" He cried out, eyes searching in every direction for any sign of the phantom. Erik Fantine silently stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, not even giving a chortle as he did. The phantom's face betrayed no emotion as he locked eyes with Marlow. "I should have known you'd be here Fantine."

"Really now?" Erik asked, voice flat. "Why is that?"

"You have a habit of popping up at the worst possible times." Curtis replied. "Don't you know the school is under attack? You really shouldn't be here."

"Then why are you?" Asked Fantine as he began to circle around the veteran.

Marlow mimicked his actions as he began to match the professor step for step."I think I've proven that I can fight them off."

"As have I." Fantine deadpanned. "But then again, Curtis, we should just drop this silly charade now. We both know there's no one attacking the school."

"Really now?" Marlow replied, rage in his eyes as he kept them locked with those of the other professor.

"Yes, really. I thought you'd know."

**(Author's Note: Music begins here. Song: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Metallica)**

The two professors stared at each other in silence as they circled the room, neither one breaking step. Erik could see that Marlow held a pistol already, even if he hadn't raised it, but the veteran could not see that weapons the phantom carried behind his cape. "I already told you what would happen if you challenged me again Curtis." Fantine said, breaking the silence. "Do you really want to test me?"

In answer, Marlow, in one fluid motion, drew his blade, holding it in his right hand as he trained a pistol on Fantine with his left.

"I suppose that's a good enough answer." Fantine replied. With the last word, the phantom shot forward at the veteran. Marlow fired at him, but the bullet merely caused the illusion to dissipate. That was when the real Fantine struck, rapier shooting out to knock the pistol from Marlow's hands.

Marlow quickly responded by slashing with his own blade at the phantom, but Erik managed to block the attack and deliver another stab with a dagger he drew from his belt. Marlow leapt back to avoid the stab, but Fantine then threw the dagger, the spinning blade nearly hitting Marlow in the shoulder as he dodged it.

Fantine shot one hand out, a line of rope firing from his sleeve. Marlow leapt out of the way of the rope, flickering for a second before he disappeared into the shadows. Fantine cursed under his breath. He remembered now Marlow's semblance of invisibility, something he knew the veteran had used on many a scouting or infiltration mission. To make matters worse, a cloud passed over the moon outside the windows, bathing the entire room in a thick shadow.

Marlow watched from the darkness as Fantine slipped on a pair of black gloves and let his cape fall to the floor. Just what was he up to? He knew that if he tried to draw his other pistol, the rustle of clothes and the click of the safety would alert his foe. The phantom would hear it and immediately throw a knife in his direction. No, he would have to move closer and finish him the hard way.

As Marlow crept closer, Fantine cast his hands in various directions, perhaps trying to catch the veteran if he got too close. Little did he know he was too late. The redcoat was not even ten feet behind him. The phantom stood stock still, arms at his sides and cape a puddle of cloth around his feet. The time was perfect. Marlow moved in, quickly yet quietly, raising his sword for the attack. That was when he hit something. Fantine turned to look at him, his face once again wearing that trademark smirk. Marlow was about to demand an answer when he realized something: he couldn't move any further forward. It felt as though a net was holding him back. Before he could say anything or demand answers, the cloud moved off of the moon, the moonlight streaming in through the windows and illuminating the web he was caught in. Reflecting the light of the moon were several strands of metal wire that formed a net between him and the phantom, each strand of wire tracing back to the fingers of Fantine's gloves. "What is this?"

"Steel razor wire." Fantine answered simply. "With a twitch of my fingers, I can use them to entangle or even cut apart a target." The phantom's smirk only got larger when the veteran backed away from his web. "It would appear I've made us a lovely standoff."

"It would appear so." Marlow agreed. The phantom looked like he was about to speak again, but Marlow drewhis second pistol and aimed it as his head. "I think I'll change that."

Fantine dove aside as Marlow fired, then flung his hands out and to the sides, the razor wire wrapping itself around Marlow's pistol. A hard pull form the phantom and the pistol flew from Marlow's grasp. Unfortunately, he left himself open for an assault from the veteran who had drawn both his blades and was attacking in a flurry fu slashes and stabs. Fantine could only dodge and evade. With his relentless assault, Marlow ensured that Fantine didn't have the space to make another attack.

Fantine ducked under a slash from Marlow's left blade only for the veteran to kick him directly in the face, dislodging his mask and revealing the scar beneath. The jagged red lines from his forehead across his eye and down his cheek serving as a reminder of just what this man had been through. "Your scars give you credit Erik." Marlow said as he moved in for the final blow. "You've been through a lot."

"As have you, old friend." Fantine muttered. "Tell me," he said, eyes glowing. "How would you like to repeat it?" With those words, the room began to shift, the ornate halls of Beacon disappeared, only to be replaced by a dark, dense forest, the light of the moon being replaced with that of a signal flare, billowing bright red smoke into the sky.

Marlow stumbled back from Erik and looked about the clearing they now stood in. "No..." he muttered. "You didn't... You couldn't!" he screamed.

"But I did." Erik said simply. Marlow spun around, ready to decapitate the phantom, but instead of the masked professor being with him, rising to his feet was a blonde man in white armour trimmed with gold, his hand clutching a glowing broadsword that seemed to shine from within.

"Stop these tricks!" Marlow bellowed. "I'll kill you if I must!"

"Would you really?" Erik asked in Arthur's voice. "Would you kill, would you hurt the man whose legacy you swore to uphold?"

"Stop!" Marlow screamed. "You're not him!"

Arthur smirked and slowly brought his sword back for a strike. This didn't escape Marlow's gaze, however, and it destroyed the illusion. He knew Arthur, the man would never raise his sword against an ally, let alone a friend. As much as it hurt him, he knew what had to be done.

With a swing of his left sword, Marlow knocked aside Arthur's blade. The veteran sealed his eyes shut as he stabbed forward. The pained gasp told him he had hit his mark. Tentatively, the red coat opened his eyes. The forest was gone, and standing before him, sabre in his chest and blood spilling from his mouth, was Erik Fantine. "I'm sorry, old friend," Marlow said. "But I must protect Arthur's legacy." A look into Marlow's eyes showed determination, but also pain, loss and behind it all, madness. "This was for those whose memories deserve to live on. Yours could have been one of them."

Erik gasped in pain before he fell off the blade, landing on the ground with blood pooling around him. Marlow looked down at the dying form of the other professor. "This needed to happen, my old friend." he said as he cleaned off his sword on his coat. He turned toward the elevator to Ozpin's office. "I just hope Ozpin sees things my way."


	29. Finale in Fear

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 25**

**oxoxoxo**

Maria watched as a small pack of Grimm began to move towards Beacon. She had been trying to avoid the monsters ever since the explosion in the forest, but if those creatures managed to get into the school, there would be blood. As quietly as possible, the centurion moved to intercept them. If she could kill the lot of them before they made it into Beacon, the problem could be solved before it even began.

oxoxoxo

Ozpin could do nothing but watch as the door to his office was kicked off its hinges by a familiar red coated colleague of his. "Curtis." He said simply. "This is a surprise." Marlow said nothing, merely aiming his pistol at Ozpin's head. "Let's calm down a moment Curtis."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you in the head right now." Marlow whispered. His voice was flat but eyes were full of rage.

"What have I done to deserve such a fate?" Ozpin said calmly, not moving an inch.

"I could give you a very long list of what you've done, old friend." The veteran muttered. "How about I start with Ognoc?"

That got a reaction from the headmaster. He let out a pained sigh and looked down onto his desk. "That was the worst day of my entire life."

"It must have been so difficult to send the one man who threatened your rank to his death while you sat safe in the comfort of your command station!" Marlow spat.

Ozpin looked up to the professor. "You think I allowed Arthur to die for the sake of my rank?"

"And now you use the first chance you get to ensure another Arc never rises." The redcoat finished.

"You're wrong." Ozpin softly declared. "That was the most difficult choice I've ever made. When your team made that first call for evacuation, I wanted to call in as many airships as we could spare to clear the skies the get you out, but the other generals disagreed, saying that it was too great a risk and that we didn't have men to spare. Then I heard about your teammates dying." The headmaster paused a moment. "Their deaths have haunted me since then, just as they have you."

"You didn't watch them die!" Marlow spat again.

"I know." Ozpin muttered. "And I was unable to save them before that happened. As soon as I heard about Theresa's death, I knew I couldn't wait any longer before I sent out an evacuation."

"Your solution was a little too late." Marlow muttered. "Arthur was dead before your ships even got off the ground!"

"I know." The headmaster muttered, looking back at his desk. "Believe me Curtis, you'll never meet anyone else who would want Arthur back as much as I would."

"Then why did you let him die?" Marlow demanded. "How could you let him and the others die like that? Over one thousand men and women, dead."

"And their blood is on my hands." Ozpin finished.

oxoxoxo

A clearing in the Emerald Forest was where Maria Gaia chose to make her stand. It seemed somewhat fitting to her that the Emerald Forest would be where the leader of Team EMAD made what could just be her final stand, despite the fact that her team hadn't even faced its first Grimm in these trees. She picked this clearing in the hopes she could avoid this being her last stand. It wasn't very wide, but it was nearly the length of a football field, perfect for funnelling the monsters into her line of fire.

The centurion opened the boss of her shield and checked the barrels by giving them an experimental spin. She drew her sword and looked at her reflection in the blade. Her own red eyes stared back at her defiantly, daring her to retreat. She could hear the Grimm incoming, the padding of bestial feet upon the ground of the forest. Maria took a deep breath as the creatures approached. Now, more than ever, she wished she had her teammates by her side.

There was a pause, the padding of feet stopping for just a second. In that second, a new sound was heard: sniffing. She knew that sound well.

**(Author's Note: Music begins here. Song: Headstrong – Trapt)**

A second later, there was a mighty roar and the sound of dozens of howls as a stream of Beowolves and Ursae burst out from the trees. Maria's finger slammed on the trigger as her shield's minigun roared to life, a hail of bullets firing out and tearing through the Grimm like tissue paper. One by one the creatures fell to the ground, their bodies dissolving as they did and making room for more of the monsters to charge. One Beowolf attacked Maria from the left, but the centurion bashed it with her shield before running it through on her sword. That was all the others needed, however, as they used the time she spent on the lone wolf to close the distance with her, and by the time Maria turned back around, there was an Ursa in her face. The beast raised a massive paw and slammed it down on the centurion, but she raised her shield and caught the blow before plunging her blade into the beast's neck.

Throwing the demonic bear off her shield, Maria drove her blade into the gut of a Beowolf before slamming another in the face with _Imperator. _The beasts, however, were beginning to close in on her, more and more bearing down on her, and for every one she killed, two more seemed to be drawn to the battle.

It was then that the battle shifted, but not in her favour. A shrill screech was heard overhead as a giant Nevermore flew over the battle, a hail of spear-like feathers raining down onto the battlefield, skewering several beasts and forcing Maria to take cover beneath her shield as she felt at least two feathers shatter on impact.

By the time she rose from her cover, there was an Ursa Major right in her face. She raised her shield to block the inevitable attack, but the beast roared and slammed its massive claw into the centurion, sending her flying across the clearing.

**(Author's Note: Music stops here.)**

Maria painfully rose to her feet, only to stumble down to one knee. She looked down the clearing. More and more Grimm were amassing behind the Ursa Major that had attacked her, the beasts roaring at her, taunting her as they knew she couldn't win. And they were right. She had pushed away everyone in her race to be the best of the best. Now now she would pay for that

Three Ursae moved in to finish her off, the closest one raising its claw to cut her to pieces. Just before it attacked, however, a pink grenade slammed into the beast, two more smashing into its pack mates, the three beasts exploding in a blast of pink light and smoke as a cheery and familiar voice cried out "Alright! Nine points!"

Maria turned around, only to be met with the hand of someone she never thought she'd see helping her.

"Need a hand?" Jaune asked.

Maria opened her mouth and tried to form words to make some sort of answer, but as she clasped the hand of the knight, the only thing that came to mind was a single word: "Why?"

Jaune smirked as he pulled the centurion to her feet, Alison approaching form behind him and offering her leader a smile. "He's not that bad once you get to know him." The artist said.

"I couldn't just let you die out here." Said Jaune. "No matter what you might have done to me, I couldn't just let you get yourself killed."

"You got a problem with that, fearless leader?" Thatch asked as he readied his swords.

Maria turned for a moment to her team and the members of Team JNPR. "After what I've done, I don't deserve your help, but for now I'd like to point out that we're about to be torn apart by Grimm. So, can we save my apology for when we're done?"

"Live first apologize later." Jaune summarized. "I can live with that."

"As can I." Pyrrha responded.

"Good idea." Ren concurred.

**(New Music: Bloody Mary Mix – Trocadero)**

The hunters in training raised their weapons as one, Maria, Pyrrha and Jaune forming a makeshift phalanx with Maria and the spinning barrels of _Imperator _at the center, Jaune and his large shield to her left and Pyrrha with her shield and rifle to her right. Thatch and Ren both aimed their smgs at the beasts. Nora and Alison readied their pole arms for some more firepower.

The Grimm at that moment decided they were done waiting for these humans to attack. With the howl of an Alpha Beowolf, the hordes charged. And with that, the battle began as the hunters opened fire on the approaching monsters, the sheer volume of fire easily felling the weaker Grimm, while hindering the progress of the Goliath Widow and the other, stronger Grimm.

That was when a Deathstalker burst through the trees next to the hunters, hissing as it swung a claw, just missing Nora and Alison. Jaune broke off from the phalanx and turned to the rest of his team. "JNPR, you know what to do, take this thing down!"

Maria turned to the Goliath Widdow that was clambering over its deceased companions to reach its prey. "Thatch, Alison, let's swat that spider!"

The other hunters nodded and immediately sprung into action. Ren struck first, charging the beast head on. The scorpion Grimm reared back and attacked with its stinger, but the martial artist leapt out of the way and grabbed the offending appendage, firing as many rounds into it as he could before the beast shook him loose. It didn't matter, than, since Ren had done his job. Pyrrha was next, flinging her shield at the stinger, the spinning shield's edge sliced right through the limb, causing the stinger to fall right into the beast. Finally, it was Nora's turn, the hyperactive hammer wielder leaping onto Pyrrha's recently returned shield and flying into the air with a pink explosion and a bubbly laugh. Seconds later she came spinning back down to earth, her hammer head smashing directly into the stinger, driving it right through the scorpion's body.

Meanwhile, Maria Thatch and Alison charged the Widow, Alison using the claw end of _Pianji _to throw Thatch into the air, the renegade landing swords first on the back of the spider. The artist soon followed, using a burst of fire dust to propel herself to her teammate's side. Thatch began to use his swords to steer the spider towards the other Grimm as they tried to come up with a plan to kill it. It would be more difficult without a ceiling to drop on it.

The Goliath Widow smashed through the legions of Grimm as Alsion picked off the survivors with pinpoint dust blasts, either shocking or burning the beasts that the spider didn't crush, Maria watched as her companions fought to stay aboard the beast as it grew ever closer to throwing them off. They were still no closer to killing it. She thought back on all her lessons on Grimm with Professors Port and Fantine, there was a lesson on Widows with Fantine, she just needed to remember their weakness. The spider was venomous, fast, strong armoured all over except... "Alison, Thatch, cut off its legs!"

The artist and renegade turned as one at this order, both of them nodding as Thatch pulled his swords out of the Widow's head and the two of them leapt off, Alison firing a dust blast and severing one leg. The beast roared in pain and spat a glob of acid at the hunters. The duo rolled out of the way and Maria opened fire on the arachnid, catching its attention. Alison and Thatch then went back to work, both of them severing another leg with a dust blast and a swing of a blade respectively. The Widow roared in pain and tried to bite the renegade, but he leapt out of the way as it struck. It was about to follow, but then two pink explosions knocked the already off balance Grimm over onto its back, revealing its unarmoured underbelly. Maria turned to see a crazily grinning Nora holding a smoking grenade launcher. She then turned back to her teammates and the Widow as it attempted to rise. "Alison, kill it now! Go for the joint between the head and abdomen!"

Alison nodded and leapt upon the Grimm, Zhua raised. A push of a button and the claw lit up in flames as the artist brought it down upon the beast, splitting it in two with one fatal strike.

All was quiet as Alison rose from the slowly dissolving corpse of the Widow. The artist gave the rest of the hunters a smile as the monster disintegrated behind her. The others quickly returned the smile as she approached the group.

The smile proved too soon, however, as a loud shriek was heard overhead. The Nevermore was still alive, and by roars and howls that were sounding, it seemed other Grimm had been attracted to their scent.

Massing together at the center of the long clearing, the teams watched as a King Taijitu emerged from the trees at one end, surrounded by several Ursae, both its heads hissing in anticipation. From the other side of the clearing emerged an entire pack of Beowolves led by an alpha. Meanwhile, the members of Team EMAD heard a familiar sound above in the night sky, the beating of several wings alerting them to the presence of several bat-like Draculings that had gathered around the site of the battle. Weapons were raised as the young hunters looked upon their certain demise. "I'm sorry I dragged you all into this." Maria said as she checked the ammo in her shield. "This is all my fault."

"We knew the risks," Pyrrha replied. "And like we said, letting you die out here just wasn't an option."

"So you're not mad that we're all going to die out here?" The centurion asked as she watched their monstrous foes carefully.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Thatch said as he watched the bats in the air. "I just can't believe... I can't believe..." The swordsman stammered as he looked off into the sky. The eyes of the other hunters followed his gaze, needless to say many were surprised with what they saw: a damaged bullhead was flying right towards the battlefield.

Meanwhile, above the battle in the dropship, Weiss pointed at the battle as Yang drove the ship. "There they are! Land right next to them!" The heiress ordered.

"Right, land..." said Yang.

Weiss turned to the brawler, more than a little worried. "You do know how to land this thing, right?"

"Well, sure." The blonde replied. "That just means stop flying, right?"

Weiss went even more white than usual as all the colour drained from her face. She bolted back to the other passengers. "Last stop, everybody off!" She shouted as she pushed the button to open the door. The other hunters followed her out, but Yang was left at the cockpit.

Blake, Francois, Ruby, Sun and Weiss landed next to the amassed group of hunters as Yang flew the bullhead overhead, Yang leapt out at the last moment as the ship slammed into the Beowolf pack, erasing the Grimm in an explosion of fiery brilliance that flung Yang to the feet of her fellow hunters. She groaned slightly as Thatch hauled her to her feet. "Next time, maybe you should leave the flying to me." The renegade quipped.

"You weren't exactly available at the time." Yang replied as she rose from the ground, her eyes burning red and her hair glowing white hot. "Besides, we got here in one piece, didn't we?"

"I think you left my stomach back at the docks." Blake muttered.

"Less talk!" Said Ruby as she drew Crescent rose, pointing it at the monstrous snake before them. "More monster killing!"

**(New Music: This Will Be The Day – Jeff and Casey Williams)**

"On that, we can agree." Said Francois, his semblance activating and giving everyone a well needed morale boost. Their spirits raised, the hunters faced their foe with newfound confidence, as one raising their weapons. They all fired as one, the sheer volume of fire felling several of the monsters. The Grimm roared as one and charged the hunters, many were killed by gunfire, but as others grew closer the students changed to close range.

Ruby struck first, leaping forward to slice a Beowolf in half with _Crescent Rose. _Weiss followed after her, running a Boarbatusk through the eye with a stab from _Myrtenaster. _Blake dodged a claw swipe by an Ursa with her semblance before using _Gambol Shroud _to behead it. Yang surged ahead to punch the King Taijitu in the face with _Ember Celicia_, a flaming burst knocking the beast to the ground. The Snake's other head tried to take a bite out of her, but a swipe to the face from Sun's staff discouraged it.

Jaune and Pyrrha fought back to back, cutting or shooting down any Grimm that got too close to them. Ren and Nora charged side by side, Nora using _Magnhild _to knock the monsters about while Ren opened fire with _Storm Flower, _gunning down Grimm left and right.

Thatch and Francois Took on the Draculings, with the nobleman taking shots with _Mademoiselle _at the flying bats while the renegade took down any that got too close. Meanwhile, Maria and Alison went after the Nevermore, Alison drawing it in with her dust blasts, while Maria used _Imperator's _superior firepower to deal out damage to it.

Team RWBY leapt upon the King Taijitu after Yang attacked it, with Blake and Ruby using their incredible speed to run along its body and keep it distracted while Weiss and Yang used a combonaion of Yang's fire blasts and Weiss' electrical dust to damage it. Sun worked to keep the rest of the Grimm off them, having switched his staff to its gun-chuck form, he was firing wildly into the ranks of the monsters, using the weapons to bludgeon any that got too close. After a particularly vicious flick of its body, the snake managed to fling the red and black girls away with Blake slamming right into her partner and sending both to the ground. Ruby, however, was caught in a glyph made by Weiss, and with just a simple eye contact, the two girls formed a plan. Weiss used the glyph to hold Ruby firmly to its surface as she aimed her partner at the snake. Then, with a twitch of her fingers and a push from her mind, she propelled Ruby off the glyph with the speed of a bullet, the reaper adding to her own momentum with shots from _Crescent Rose, _the younger girl slamming blade first into the white head of the snake, cutting it clean off in one hit.

The other head roared in pain, only to be hit directly in the throat by the thrown blade of _Gambol Shroud. _The head hissed in pain as Blake gave a mighty heave and pulled it into the ground. The hissing immediately ceased as Yang, taking advice from Ren, leapt upon its head and, with a mighty heave, tore its fangs off. The brawler then swung around to the side of the snake's head and jammed one fang in its eye, punctuating it with a fiery punch that sent the tooth flying right through the monster's head and into an Ursa, killing both in one hit.

Despite the progress the teams were making on the ground, the sky was another matter. Draculings werestill swarming around the clearing, every so often, one breaking off the group to attack the students, and the Nevermore still circled around above. With the students spread out along the clearing, the winged beast saw its chance to strike. Shrieking loudly, the beast flew out over the trees before shrieking and circling back, flying right at the teams, getting slowly lower to the ground.

Maria, however, heard the cry and turned to see the incoming bird monster. She knew enough about them through her studies that she knew its attack pattern. "Everyone, get to cover!" She cried. The other students heard her and bolted for the tree ling, knowing that would provide at least some cover. All but one of them made it.

Alison broke into a run for the trees as the Nevermore closed in, but along the way she was attacked, one of the Draculings making a dive for her. She heard the beast in time to strike, swinging her dust charged zhua claw into the bat's head to kill it, but the momentum the creature had knocked her to the ground. She tried to rise, only to see the massive birdlike Grimm bearing down on her. Her name as cried out by several people, including her partner and Thatch, but she barely heard her, only the massive raven as it unleashed a rain of spear-like feathers, the artist knowing they would be the last things she ever saw.

**(Author's Note: Stop music here.)**

She closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable. But there was no pain. No giant feather impaling her as she lay on the ground. No white light at the end of a tunnel. Instead, there was sound. The feathers of the Nevermore shattering as they impacted something above her. The sound of one feather impacting flesh. Then, there was a cry of pain.

The artist opened her eyes. Standing over her, shield raised and screaming in pain, was Maria. The shards of the Nevermore's feathers were scattered around the two of them, having broken on impact with the centurion's shield.

One, however, did not.

Sticking out of Maria's leg, just below her left knee, was one of the feathers, the offending projectile having shot right through her leg and into the ground, pinning her in place as she screamed in agony and fell to the ground. To Alison at that moment, the entire world went silent. She knew that noise was made, she had screamed out her leader's name multiple times, but all her senses seemed to die on her but her sight as she gazed over the form of her leader, her partner, her friend. She had risked her life to save her. And paid for it. At that moment, everything came crashing down on the artist's head, her senses returning and hitting her like a ton of bricks. She, Thatch and Francois were crowded around Maria as the centurion screamed in pain and continued to bleed. Her screams were getting softer however, and while she was still writhing in pain, blood loss and shock were beginning to take their toll as she began lose consciousness. Alison felt hot, stinging tears begin to roll down her face.

**(New Music: All As One – Miracle of Sound)**

That was when she heard the cry of the Nevermore again. She looked to the air, her face a mixture of rage and sadness as she watched the beast that nearly killed her. "RWBY, JNPR," she muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "We can't help her until we clear the sky. You guys kill the bats. The big one is ours." Alison turned to her injured partner. "Maria. I know you want to help, but please, just stay covered. You still have your shield, that should help you."

The other members of Team EMAD nodded, as did the other teams. Maria looked to Alison, her pain obvious, but concern breaking through. Alison looked down to her and said simply "We'll be fine."

RWBY, JNPR and Sun began to open fire on the remaining Draculings as Alison, Thatch and Francois stared down the incoming Nevermore. The beast let out a shriek as it dove for the three hunters, but they were not about to make this easy on it. As one, the three of them opened fire on the beast. The monster, however, seemed the shrug off the majority of the attacks, Alison just managing to land a well placed firebolt in its eye, causing the monster to cry out in pain and abort its dive momentarily.

"This isn't working..." Francois muttered.

"Tell me about it." Thatch concurred.

Alison merely nodded in agreement. They needed some way to bring this thing down to the ground. Once it was grounded, they could more easily dismantle it. But the question was, how could they ground a giant monster raven? The artist looked around the battlefield in time to see Sun leap onto a draculing and smash it with his staff. That could help. She then saw Weiss use a glyph to catch a Draculing and throw it to Ruby who cut it in half. Wait, that was it!

"Weiss, We need you!" Alison cried out. The heiress heard and ran to her aid, the artist quickly explaining her plan to her.

The Nevermore wasn't going to give them time to make another plan, as it had begun to circle back around. It zeroed in on the being that had caused it such pain. The one in red and green with the staff of fire, it would be a fine appetizer for the pinned warrior. It let out a war shriek and dove toward the being.

"You're sure this will work?" Weiss asked. Alison nodded, Francois pouring enough of his semblance into Weiss to give her the confidence to act.

"Right, are we doing this or not?" Thatch asked as he loaded fresh clips into _Anne _and _Elizabeth. _Weiss nodded as her eyes momentarily flashed with gold. With a wave of her hand, a glyph appeared in the air two feet off the ground, the heiress pointing at the Nevermore and the pattern following her gaze. The renegade leapt onto the glyph, the images sinking slightly as he stood upon them. Weiss looked to Alison, who nodded in reply. With her confirmation, Weiss shot her hand forward, the glyph launching the now screaming Thatch right at the bird.

Thatch flew right at the raven, the beast opening its beak to eat him as he did. Thatch was about to deny it dinner, however, as he grabbed onto the upper beak and flipped himself onto the monster's head. The Nevermore began to fly up in an attempt to dislodge him, but as he fell down the beast's back, Thatch drove both his blades into its body, causing the colossal bird to shriek in pain and dive as it tried to get rid of him. Thatch, however, refused to be removed; instead, he pulled _Anne _out of the beast and sheathed her, using his now free hand to grasp the monster's feathers. Yanking _Elizabeth _out of the raven's back, Thatch leapt off its back and onto the top of its left wing where he drove his sword right through the limb.

He wouldn't stay there for long, however, as a massive flap of the monster's wing. Thatch's blade began to slip downwards, every movement of the wing cutting deeper into it, eventually cutting right through the wing, cutting it almost in half. Unfortunately, this would also send Thatch plummeting to the ground.

Alison and Francois watched this from the earth, the artist calling out "NOW!"

Weiss nodded and readied a glyph. Sun leapt onto it and was launched after the falling renegade. The monkey caught up to him in mid air, catching him with a quip of "Just dropping in?" Thatch rolled his eyes as he and the faunus fell towards earth, and right into Weiss' glyph.

The Nevermore was not so lucky as it fell. The massive bird knew it would hit the ground hard, all it had control over was where. And it knew just where it wanted to land.

Alison watched from the ground as the bird changed its course, her pinpoint vision directing her right to where it would fall. Her heart sank. "It's headed for Maria!"

It was true, the massive bird hit the ground right next to the downed centurion. It raised its damaged beak in pain in an attempt to devour the centurion. Maria raised her shield, knowing it was futile. The beast would eat her, shield and all, and in her pained state she was still fumbling for the trigger.

The beast opened its massive beak and lunged, but it never managed to hit the centurion. No, the beast was stopped in its tracks by what looked like a ball of white light. As the light dimmed slightly, the wounded warrior saw what it really was. Glowing with the power of his aura and sword and shield raised was Jaune Arc. The knight had his shield against the beak of the monster and was gradually pushing it back. With one final shove of his shield, Jaune knocked the Nevermore back. Before the monster could recover, he leapt upon its head and with a war cry drove the full blade of _Crocea Mors _into its eye, twisting the blade with a snarl before withdrawing it and shoving the blade into the beast's neck, applying as much force as he could to pull the sword through the beast, decapitating it.

Maria could only watch in shock as Jaune jumped off the slowly disintegrating beast. As blood loss and shock began to set in, and the world grew dimmer to her, one thought crossed her mind. _It seems I was wrong after all._

With that thought, Maria was content to let the darkness take her, only vaguely aware of her fellow hunters calling her name.

oxoxoxo

Neither Ozpin nor Marlow had moved.

The headmaster still stared down the barrel of Marlow's pistol as the veteran glared at him. "I must admit something to you Curtis." Ozpin said softly.

"If I don't like what I hear, then you're dead." Marlow said, voice flat.

"When your unit first called for evacuation from Ognoc, my request to evacuate you was denied." Ozpin said. "When that happened, I was tempted to go against my orders, and send the rescue ship anyway. I didn't because the others were right: it was too risky with so many Grimm still about."

"You've already said this!" Marlow hissed, cocking his pistol.

"Calm down, Curtis." Ozpin said, hands raised in surrender.

"Go on before I kill you!" The veteran spat.

Ozpin let out another pained sigh. "When I heard about the deaths of your teammates, I couldn't wait any longer. The others wanted to hold our ships back another day, but I refused. I disobeyed the orders of the other generals and sent a ship after you."

Marlow hesitated for a second. "You-you're lying!"

"No, I'm not, Curtis." Ozpin said, staring at his desk again. When the headmaster looked up again, his expression could only be described as pained. "I want you to know that I'm sorry Curtis. I'm sorry I didn't send the rescue ships sooner. I'm sorry your team, your friends, were killed. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew about Jaune's forged entrance documents."

The last sentence made Marlow falter, almost making him drop his pistol. "Y-you're lying..." He stammered, shakily aiming the gun at Ozpin again.

The headmaster looked back down to his desk, unable to watch what he knew was coming. "I'm not lying Curtis. No one else knows about this but me. That's why I ensured he received the one and only Pyrrha Nikos as a partner. That's why I assigned him a test to see if he was worthy of being here. I knew he could pass it and prove to the rest of the staff that he belonged at Beacon." Ozpin paused once again, letting out another sigh. "I know you don't believe me, however, and I'm sorry about that. And about this."

Marlow was about to demand an answer when a length of rope wrapped itself around the barrel of Marlow's pistol and yanked it out of his hands. Before Marlow could say anything, another length wrapped itself around his arm and pulled him off his feet and to someone he knew could only be a figment of his imagination. "No..." He stammered, unable to face what stood before him "No, I killed you..."

Erik Fantine, his mask returned, wore a blank expression as he tied up his former colleague. "I have the power of illusion, old friend. This isn't the first time I've used that power to escape my demise. I created an illusion of Arthur for you to kill, making it become me again when you stabbed it." There was a pause as both professors realized what was now going to happen. Marlow would need to be taken away, stripped of his position at Beacon. All the years of serving the kingdom would be forgotten, replaced in the minds of the citizens with this one act of madness. "For what it's worth, old friend, I wish it didn't have to be this way."


	30. Epilogue

**RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light**

**Chapter 26**

**oxoxoxo**

All was quiet in Ozpin's office as he and his comrades watched the security tape from the Emerald Forest. The eyes of the Beacon professors widened considerably as the aura-charged Jaune tackled and killed a Nevermore on his own to protect the very student who turned him in for forging his transcripts. "I think," Ozpin began "That the boy has proven himself worthy of being here."

"Just as I predicted." Port declared proudly.

"It seems he may have inherited something from his father after all." Oobleck blurted out.

"I do hate to say I told you so, my dear Glynda," Fantine smarmed "but-"

"Don't. You. Dare." Glynda snapped, giving the phantom a glare that could melt the strongest man alive.

"It is unfortunate, then, that Jaune's acceptance to the academy happens right as we lose one of our own." Ozpin lamented. "Beacon has lost one of its finest."

"What will happen to him, if I may ask sir?" Fantine enquired, seriousness marking his features.

"He has been relieved of his duties at this academy and has been placed in a rehabilitation center." Ozpin explained. "I know what would happen if news of his arrest and the reasons behind it become public, so I've asked that a report not be released, and that people not even be informed of his presence there. While what he's done may be deserving of punishment, he was a good man, and his name does not deserve to be dragged through the mud like it would if we told the public."

"If I may inquire, sir," Oobleck blurted at his usual breakneck pace. "who will take Marlow's place now?"

"I have made a suggestion to our fearless leader." Said Fantine. "All I need now is his approval."

"We will see what happens, Erik." Ozpin said simply. Fantine said nothing, merely bowing slightly to the headmaster. "That's all for now, you're all dismissed."

Oobleck was gone in the blink of an eye, Port marched out, proud of the Arc boy, and Fantine simply walked off, cape wrapped around his shoulders. Glynda watched the others leave before turning to Ozpin. "We lost one of our best teachers and huntsmen today." She said. "But that one still remains here, and that worries me."

"Fantine may be a tad... unusual, but there are few people I trust more than him." The headmaster replied.

"But what about his recommendation to take Curtis' place?" Glynda asked. "Are we sure we can trust who he chooses?"

Ozpin considered for a moment. On one hand, he had known Fantine and his choice for a replacement for years, but on the other, he had thought the same of Marlow. "We'll keep a close eye on them, as well as our other teachers. It pains me to do this, but after what happened, I fear it may be necessary."

oxoxoxo

Morning had risen after what had jokingly been declared the "Battle of Beacon" and the combatant teams were each reacting in a different way to the outcome. Team RWBY was fairly unconcerned with the outcome after they figured out that the school was never really under attack and that the school was lucky enough to not lose any of its students. No, their concern was more about the events that took place at the docks. What was Roman Torchwick up to? How was the White Fang involved? And what did it all add up to? One team member in particular was particularly intrigued and worried about the involvement of her fellow faunus in the plots of a human criminal.

Team JNPR had received word that due to his actions in the battle, Jaune had proven himself worthy of continuing his studies at Beacon. Upon receiving word from Ozpin pardoning him, Jaune and his team had been overjoyed. One team member in particular looked on in sheer bliss as her leader, her partner, her friend cracked the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face.

Team EMAD, had, it seemed the most to celebrate. Not only had their team survived the battle, but they had saved their leader in the process. She remained in the infirmary since the end of the battle, the medics just reaching her in time as the lockdown was lifted. The hunters had been informed that their leader had lost a lot of blood from her wound and that she was lucky to still be alive. Even with the help she got, Maria still hadn't woken since she passed out in the battle, but even as she lay in the infirmary, she was never alone. Her partner, her friend had stayed by her side as she slept, waiting, knowing she would be alright. She had, however, told her other two teammates that they should get some proper rest at the dorm. "We don't all need to stay with her." She had said at the time. "Besides, they were reluctant to let even me stay here tonight, they'll never let you two."

Francois and Thatch considered these words as they left their dorm for a morning visit to their team leader and her partner. The boys were caught up in their conversation when a familiar voice called out to them. "Hey, Francois!" The nobleman looked to the source of the voice to see it was Velvet who had called to them. "I'm so glad you're alright." The faunus girl said as she approached them.

Francois met her with an outstretched hand taking hers and planting a kiss on it. "As if any creature of Grimm could possibly threaten me, _mon cherie." _It was then that he noticed that the bunny girl wasn't alone. Standing behind her was an older girl dressed in the standard Beacon girl's uniform, but with a pair of boy's pants replacing the usual skirt. She had long, chocolate brown hair with the tip of one strand flaring fiery orange. A black beret sat on her head and a pair of sunglasses rested over her eyes, every bot of her expression and posture simply screamed confidence.

The other girl stepped up to Francois and put her hands on her hips. The nobleman tried to follow her gaze, but the dark lenses of her sunglasses made that rather difficult. Eventually, she turned to Velvet. "Well, Velvet, aren't you going to introduce us?" she said in a smooth, sultry voice.

"Oh, right!" Velvet stammered. "Francois, Thatch, this is my new team leader, Coco. Coco, this is Thatch and Francois."

Coco looked back at the boys, the two of them able to feel her eyes on them, her expression hidden by those damned glasses. Eventually, she turned back to Velvet. "So," she said, gesturing to the nobleman. "This is that guy you keep talking about?" Velvet went red in the face, as did Francois. She talked about him? What about? Coco just smirked and looked back at the marksman and his now laughing partner, letting her glasses fall slightly as she looked him over. "Not bad at all." She muttered, making Velvet blush even more. "So, you and Velvet?" Coco asked Francois, the rest of her question fairly obvious.

"_Oui, madame." _Francois replied with a nod.

"Good." Coco responded. "She deserves someone to make her happy." She said, looking back to the bunny girl who now had a small smile on her still red face. Coco then turned back to Francois and pushed her glasses back onto her face as she spoke. "You better be good to her. You hurt her in any way, and you don't even want to know what I'll do." Coco let her threat hang in the air for a few seconds before turning to her teammate. "I've gotta get going, Velvet, I'll see you later." She said, patting the faunus girl on the butt as she walked off.

For a good thirty seconds, all Velvet Francois and Thatch did was stare after the girl as she walked off before Thatch voiced what was on all their minds: "What just happened?"

"I think she approves of me." Francois guessed. "At least, I hope so."

"She does." Velvet confirmed. "She's just a bit protective of her teammates."

"She can rest easy." Thatch said "I don't think noble boy would ever hurt you Velvet." He said, putting a hand on the shoulder of his partner. "After all, I don't think he can really hurt anything, don't think he knows how."

Francois shot his partner a brief glare as the renegade grinned in response. "I believe not knowing things is your speciality _mon ami, _after all, you still haven't figured out how to talk to the girl of your dreams."

Now it was Thatch's turn to glare. He probably would have said something, but Velvet stood between them. "So, where were the two of you going?"

Francois looked down from his partner's glare to Velvet's softer gaze. "Maria was hurt in the battle yesterday, and we were going to visit her in the infirmary." The nobleman explained.

"Care to join us?" Thatch asked, gesturing down the hall with a nod.

Velvet swiftly agreed, and the three of them set out down the hall. The rabbit faunus turned to her nobleman, a nervous expression on her face. "I hope Coco didn't bother you too much." She said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It was no problem, _mon cherie." _Said the marksman.

"And you're still sure you're okay with me being on a second year team?" She enquired.

"_Mademoiselle, _the only thing that could make me happier than your success would be if you joined my team and replaced this idiot." Francois said, gesturing to his partner.

"Hey!" Said the partner in question.

Velvet only giggled in response.

Before long, the three of them reached the infirmary. The shining white room held only a few that day, one of which being the leader of Team EMAD, Maria Gaia, as she lay in a bed, her right leg held up and bandaged as she peacefully slept. Next to her, slumped over in a comfortable looking chair with her black hair hanging messily over her snoozing face and her zhua leaning against the wall was Alison. Thatch could only look on with a smile.

"Why don't you wake her, _mon ami?" _Francois asked.

"What, wake an injured Maria?" Thatch replied in a lowered voice. "Just how bad do you want me gone?"

"Not her, idiot, Alison." Francois responded with an elbow to Thatch's gut.

The renegade seemed to catch his idea and took a seat next to the artist, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and giving her a light shake.

Groggily, Alison looked up into the face of the swordsman, the artist giving him a tired smile. "I'm a real mess, aren't I?" she said.

"Just a bit." Thatch said, returning the smile. "You can go clean up if you like. We'll watch her for now."

"No." Alison replied with a shake of her head, the green streak in her hair getting lost in her pitch dark locks as she did. "I need to be here when she does. After all, this is all my fault." She said, looking down into her lap. Thatch tilted her head up to look at him, he two of them locking eyes in silence before Alison wrapped her arms around the renegade. In a second, Thatch responded in kind, holding the artist close. "I'm sorry, I just can't leave."

Realizing Alison really wasn't about to leave, the others decided it would be easier to just stay with her, Velvet leaving for a moment to get drinks for the rest of the group. Alison blew cool air over her cup of chai tea, the scent of the spices therein warming her up instantly. "I just... I need to be here when she wakes up."

"I'm sure she'll forgive you." Velvet said, putting down her cup of coffee to place a comforting hand on the artist's shoulder. "You two have gotten pretty close over the year."

Alison only smiled. "She's not that bad under all that harshness." The quiet girl said. "And after this year, I don't think I can call her my friend anymore." She said, looking over to Maria's unconscious form before turning back to the faunus girl. "I think she's become more like a sister to me."

The room shared a collective smile at Alison's statement. Velvet looked like she was about to say something before a voice broke the silence. "Don't... ever... say that about me... again." The group turned as one to meet the crimson eyes of Maria as she struggled to lift her torso off the infirmary bed, only to fall back down with a tired grunt.

"Maria! You're awake!" Alison cried.

Maria looked around the room at her assembled team and their guest. "Don't ever say I'm like a sister to you, Alison. I have a sister already... and I hate her."

Alison's eyes began to water before she leaned down to embrace her partner in a hug. "I'm so sorry Maria, this was all my fault."

"No, Alison, it wasn't." Maria said as she patted her partner on the back. "I know you would have done the same for me. And besides," she said, her voice dropping into a darker tone. "The whole mess was my fault to begin with. Right now, I'm just glad I have my team back."

"Well, someone had to lead us." Thatch quipped "Who else could do that, noble boy?"

Francois rolled his eyes before responding. "The criminal has a point, I don't know anyone else who really could."

Maria smirked slightly. "I don't know, maybe Alison could do it." Her face suddenly bore a more serious mask. "Speaking of leaders, there's a favour I need to ask of one of you."

When Maria asked her favour, Velvet had offered to do it, running off to complete the centurion's request. In the meantime, Maria hauled herself up into a sitting position with a grunt of pain. She took a deep breath as she watched door, waiting for the faunus girl to return, anxiety gripping her hard as she sat, waiting. The rest of her team sat around her, each one giving their support in their own way. Alison sat on her bed next to her, providing an encouraging look every time Maria glanced at her. Looking to Thatch and Francois who stood by the foot of the bed, they would mirror the expression of the artist if needed. Before too long, Velvet returned, and following her was a pair who Maria had personally wronged. "Hello Maria." Pyrrha said, Jaune standing by her side as she did.

"I need to talk to the two of you." Maria said, guilt flooding every word. "I can't possibly apologize enough for what I've done. All I ask is your forgiveness, even though I don't deserve it. I hope you don't hate me too much for this."

Jaune looked to Pyrrha before turning back to the centurion. "Maria, I don't hate you, and while I don't know if I can forgive you just yet, I think I'll be able to at some point."

"That's all I'm asking." Maria said as she hung her head.

"Just one question:" The knight replied. "Why did you ask Pyrrha to come too?"

Maria sighed heavily as she readied herself for the words she knew she'd have to say. "When I told Ozpin you faked your transcripts, I told myself the entire time I was doing it for your own good and that of the academy. I told myself you would only get yourself killed and that I needed to get you out to save you. I told myself you needed to go because you would dishonour the academy with your lie. It turns out I was lying to myself, and I only realized that recently." Maria looked her rival directly in the eye as she continued. "I did it to hurt you. I wanted you to finally be hurt by my hand, to finally beat you, to make you know that I could. I wanted to destroy something you cared about to repay you for breaking my record. For that, I'm so sorry." The centurion said, screwing her eyes shut and turning her head down and away from the others.

The room was silent after Maria's confession, no one being able to say a word to respond to that.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Pyrrha spoke up. "I forgive you."

Maria opened one tentative eye and looked out of the corner of it at her rival. The red haired Amazon had one of her signature kind smiles on her face as she continued. "Why are you smiling?" She demanded. "Why are you forgiving me? You should be furious!" she said, incredulous.

"In some cases," Pyrrha said softly "I might be angry, but I think you've suffered enough for what you've done." She said, gesturing to Maria's wounded leg.

"You should still be angry." Maria said. "Just get it over with and hit me already." She said, screwing her eyes shut once again and bracing for impact.

When it came, it was a light slap on the side of her face. "There," the Spartan said "I hit you."

"But-"

"No buts." Pyrrha replied. "You said hit you, and I did."

Maria could only look around to all her fellow students gathered around her. At that moment it didn't matter to her that it might be weeks before she could walk on her own, because she was the luckiest girl in the world. Her team was at her side, and while she may not have been forgiven for all she had done, the fact that neither her team, nor the others who mattered to her were holding it against her. And considering what she had done, that was more than she could have hoped for.

oxoxoxo

A bullhead dropship pulled in for a landing at a darkened warehouse in Vale. When the ship touched down, two figures stepped out, the first, a man in a fancy white coat with his orange hair mostly covered by a black and red bowler hat carrying a cane. The second was a shorter girl in a white, scale pattern hooded robe with crossbows mounted on her wrists and a Grimm mask over her eyes.

They were met at the door to the warehouse by another pair of figures, the first dressed in a similar robe to the shorter girl, only she carried a long axe over her shoulder. She towered over the other girl and dirty blonde hair could be seen poking out from beneath her hood. The one standing next to her, however, was much more imposing.

Standing even taller than the other snake girl, and dressed in a blue greatcoat with gold trim and cuffs, she seemed to radiate an aura of command. She wore the standard Grimm mask of the White Fang over what was once likely a beautiful face, high cheekbones and a mane of golden blonde hair reaching down to her lower back framing it well. Atop her head was a black tricorne hat with gold trim and clutched in her hand was a huge rifle with a bayonet that resembled the head of a spear. "I take it the mission wasn't a success, Roman?" she asked.

"Shut it." Roman snapped, walking into the warehouse, the others following close behind him. "This was the first heist that someone was able to stop us, and it won't happen again, thank you very much."

"How very disappointing Roman."

The occupants of the warehouse gave a collective yelp in surprise at the new voice, all of them turning to the door to see a black haired woman in a red dress with burning golden eyes flanked by a silver haired boy and a coffee skinned girl with emerald green hair.

"I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." Roman replied, obviously surprised at the arrival.

"We were expecting... more from you." The woman said, her voice sultry yet dangerous.

"H-hey," Roman laughed nervously. "You were the ones who suggested working with those mutts from the White Fang."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth as the blue-coated girl held him up by his coat and growled dangerously. "Mind your tongue, human!" She snarled.

"Caroline, calm down." The red dressed woman said. The large faunus tossed Roman to the ground, the crime lord landing straight on his ass. "As for you, Roman, you will continue to work with the White Fang." The woman said, conjuring a fireball in her right hand to illuminate the room. "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little cooperation."

Roman grumbled something under his breath and looked away. The woman smirked and turned to the White Fang members. "As for the three of you, I have a little job I need you to do before I send you on your next mission."

**oxoxoxo**

**And so I end this volume.**

**Keep an eye on my profile in the coming days as the sequel begins soon. Who were Cinder's new soldiers, and just what roles do they play in her game? Where will Team EMAD be sent on their first mission? Who will replace Marlow, and how does Fantine know them?**

**Find out in "RWBY: Light Extinguished."**

**Also, an announcement of one more story: "RWBY: Frozen Silver." Follow the Teams of Marlow and Fantine, as they fight to turn the tide of the Grimm Incursion. They are Teams AGTM and FRST (Argentum and Frost), and they fight for the lives of the people of Remnant.**


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